BLITZ Martial Arts Magazine December 2014 AU

AUSTRALIA'S #1 MARTIAL ARTS MAGAZINE

HAVE STICKS,
WILL BATTLE

Filipino stick-fighting
^ skills for real street
|\ situations

POWER

INTERNAL

Master Yang
Hai's insights j
into internal |
kung fu I

OVER MA1“

The best forms of
martial art for mental
health & strength

i APP

I ATTACK!

? The new wave

of digital apps
enhancing martial
arts training

CHOKING

ON REALITY

Is your choke
technique solid...
and safe?

ChikaraKenpo'sShihan Gary Palmer

7 ESSENTIAL
STRENGTH
SHORTCUTS

Get these, get there faster

Gran

Johi^ iwaoov

*

7th Degree Master of Taekwondo
Internationally Certified Master
Vice President of
Taekwondo International,
Based in America
Founder of South Pacific
Taekwondo Federation for
Australia & New Zeaiand

ITF

WTF

members welcomed &
Grades recognized

Email: adnnin@southpacifictkd.com.au
All enquiries are kept confidential

Free Call: 1800 777 033
www.southpacifictkd.com.au
Schools throughout Australia & New Zealand

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Traditional training techniques
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EDGE^

DECEMBER 2014

Features

On the cover

Setting the
Standard

The story of Chikara Kenpo Karate founder Gary
Palmer and how soldiering, policing and running
all-styles competitions have shaped his martial art

72 App Attack!

A look at the new wave of digital apps designed to enhance
martial arts training

66

Choking on Reality

A technical and tactical assessment of the choke as a
self-defence technique, for both civilians and LEOs

Power Internal

Master HaiYang offers rich insights into the workings
of tai chi, bagua and XingYi kung fu

The Battle Upstairs

A former Aussie military psychologist reveals the
positive mental health benefits of martial arts

Stick to Your Gun s Sticks

A look at how Filipino stick-fighting arts can be applied
to both unarmed defence and improvised weapons

Regulars

Contents

DECEMBER 2014

8 Editorial

BLITZ & PIECES

12 News & Events
18 Martial Movies
20 Martial Arts Gear

JVARJJALjyijNps
22 Five Minutes with...

Taekwondo master and Tink Belt'
community founder Wayne Abbott

92 Martial Law

Phil O'Brien looks at how one-punch
laws could affect martial arts instructors

94 GetTactical

Graham Kuerschner reflects on why
self-defence instructors must be ready to
adapt at a moment's notice

96 Close Quarters

Paul Gale reveals why the martial arts'
attitude to weapons may need to change

98 The Last Word

John Will weighs in on the battle
between sport and street for BJJ's future

ON TH E M AT

52 Technique Workshop

Three instructors' techniques and
tactics to defend against an axe-kick

60 DriIMt

Sifu Ricardo Vargas demonstrates a flow
drill used by the late, great Bruce Lee

62 The Burn

Matt Beecroft reveals the seven common
roadblocks to real strength gains

f ULL CONTACT
78 Fight Life

Up-and-coming Aussie muayThai fighter
Cain Brunton talks about his training and
recent battles in the ring

83 Fight News

Aussie fighters' news, and local MMA
and kickboxing events

86 The Arnold Martial Arts Festival

An interview with taekwondo
tournament director Grandmaster
Martin Hall, 8th Dan

This month's In-Site content

When you see this logo, scan the page with
your phone and watch the content come to life!

CONNECTS! INTERACT
with your magazine

Use your In-Site app to access this
extra content:

34 » BJJ guru John B Will gives a
lesson on choking technique

67 » Kyoshi MarcToussaint

demonstrates Doce Pares eskrima's i

12 angles of attack '

68 » Kyoshi MarcToussaint teaches an J.
eskrima stick-attack counter

69 » Kyoshi MarcToussaint teaches an i
eskrima stick defence against a knife

I

70 » Kyoshi MarcToussaint shows |

empty-hand applications of eskrima

to defend against a weapon |

71 » Kyoshi MarcToussaint shows I

how to apply eskrima techniques to |

improvised weapons i

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EDITORIAL WITH SILVIO MORELLI

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Safer, Stronger, Wiser

As Christmas approaches, there is much going on in the
world that’s reminiscent of this time a dozen years ago, when
Australians were reeling from the first Bali bombing attack and
there was a sense of fear and division in the community. In
such times, martial arts can help us in more ways than one.

H aving recently returned from Bali, I'm
especially thankful that things have
settled down and the resilient people
there are again able to make a livelihood in
the tourist industry. While the memory is still
painful for many, terrorist attacks like the 2002
bomb blast, which killed 202 people including
88 Aussies, have become much less of a
threat due to the diligent work of our two
countries' authorities over a decade or so.

However, history never fails to repeat
itself, it seems, and while the nature of the
threat is a little different, it has manifested
closer to home than ever for Australians, and
the fear of extremism has again taken hold in
2014. As such, the issue of self-defence and
how martial arts fits into the community has
never been of more importance. Parents are
thinking, are my children safe? Leaders are
thinking, is our country safe?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Without
being sensationalist or wanting to promote
irrational fear (there's enough of that in the
media), it's a simple fact that we do not
yet live in a world of peace or a crime-free
society. That has never been the case, of
course, and as such I encourage diligence,
awareness and good training, but no more
now than I have at any time in the past.

While Australasia is one of the better
parts of the world, we are not immune
to violence, whether it be simple street
thuggery fuelled by rising use of the drug
'ice', or targeted attacks by those with an
extreme ideology. Places that we might
think are safe often offer little real protection
at all — hence your first line of defence
will always be you. Some might argue that
there's little we can do in the face of such
seemingly random violence, but I disagree.
Although some things are out of our hands,
even ordinary people can defend themselves
if they learn how to take action — and given
you're a Blitz reader and student of martial
arts, I assume you're of this same thinking.

The martial arts should prepare us to face
some of the toughest situations, and give
us not only the skills to fight back, but the
awareness to avoid and the tactical thinking

to take action earlier rather than later.

Martial arts is not just about 'fighting
back' or 'standing up for yourself', though. As
Bruce Lee said, "Notice that the stiffest tree
is most easily cracked, while the bamboo
or willow survives by bending with the
wind." Martial arts should teach the weak
to be strong and the strong to become
wise — wise enough to adapt and look first
for solutions beyond the physical, but to
know that physical skills may sometimes be
necessary, too, and not fear their use.

Compassion, courage, selflessness and
friendship are qualities we can foster through
martial arts that will extend beyond that
once-in-a-lifetime incident. These qualities will
also enable us to fit into society in a most
valuable way and become a backbone by
which we can stand true. And being strongly
multicultural, the martial arts also provide a
vehicle for many races and religions to share
in this journey and help one another.

It's important to note, though, that these
great aims of the martial arts are often
overlooked at times when a general fear
of violence is high in the community (as
Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay showed
recently when he suggested that MMA 'in
a cage' might somehow encourage street
violence). So, we should be vigilant as to how
we are perceived. We must be responsible
caretakers of the martial arts, and stand up
for what we believe in while being conscious
of our place in society. The average person
discovers martial arts through movies and
images of violence, so we must ensure that
the other sides to martial arts are preserved.

As we move towards Christmas,
compassion, courage, selflessness and
friendship are things to pride ourselves in.

Call 03 9574 8460 or
visit www.blitznnag.net
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IwseEVENTS

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MANAGING EDITOR Ben Stone
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EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

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PHOTOGRAPHERS

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Cover photo: Gary Palmer by Clive Girdham

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BLITZ & PIECES

NEWS & EVENTS

Elite Team rises to the top at BJJ Pan-Pacs

Australian Elite Team
dominated the competition at
the 2014 ABJJF Pan Pacific
Championships held at
Melbourne Sports and Aquatic
Centre from 10-13 October. In
a landmark result for Australian
BJJ, AET ended De Been
100% Jiu Jitsu's long-standing
dominance at the event by
topping the Male and Masters
competitions and collecting
third place in Female and
Juniors competitors.

A landslide result in many
respects, AET finished on 211
points in the Male competition
— a whopping 111 points
ahead of second-placed team
Grade Barra. Southside MMA
was third.

In the Black-belt division
Lachlan Giles from Will-
Machado was the standout,
winning his 79-kg division and
then securing double-gold with
a win in the Open-weight.
AET's Michael Tohme was also
a notable mention, winning his
division and collecting silver
in the open weight. The other
double-gold performance in the
Male competition was from
Purple-belt Craig Jones of ISO
BJJ, Adelaide.

The Female competition
produced two double-gold
medallists, with AET's Jo
'Booty' Elia impressing in
the Brown-belt division and
Maromba's Livia Gluchowska
doing the same at Purple-
belt. In the Female teams
standings, Maromba narrowly
edged out Will-Machado.

Elated with the

performance of his team, head
of the AET Ninos Dammo took

to Facebook to express his joy.

"I would like to congratulate
all my students for winning this
competition. I love you guys so
much. The victory belongs to
each of you," said Dammo.

"To my brother and coach
Gustavo Falciroli for supporting
me, lifting me up and always
guiding me. Thank you for
everything, brother... we are
the number one team in the
entire Pan Pacific region, but

we are no better than the club
with five students that train in
their garage. If you love your
training and you love your team,
then you have already won.

As for me, I love each of my
students like there was only
one of them. I won before this
competition began and each
day that I'm surrounded by my
students and all my friends in
the BJJ community, I continue
to win."

WORLD CHAMPION ANDRE GALVAO VISITS BRISBANE

Multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Andre
Galvao visited Australia in October to conduct a one-off
seminar and open the country's first Atos Jiu-Jitsu affiliate

Galvao gets busy on the mat

academy in Wolloongabba, Brisbane. The Arte Suave jiu-jitsu
school will be run by Antonio Mota and will look to build off
Atos' recent success on the world stage.

A host of Australia's top Black-belts travelled to attend
the one-off seminar and support the new school, including
the likes ofThiago Braga from Sydney's Legacy gym. Galvao
rolled with many of the higher belts at the seminar, wowing
all in attendance.

"Thank you all you guys who came here and all the Black-
belts who came from all over bringing their student to the
seminar. That was awesome," said Galvao via Facebook.

"Thank you. Professor Antonio for everything. I'm very,
very happy for you and I will be here always to help... I
really enjoyed a lot Australia and I hope to get back very
soon. The weather here is amazing — all [the] people and
the food too."

Atos is currently regarded as one sport jiu-jitsu's
strongest teams, producing a number of world champions
including Galvao, Rafael and Gui Mendes, Keenan Cornelius,
JTTorres, Gilbert Burns and Claudio Calasans.

12 • www.blitznnag.net

PALUMBO PARTNERS ESKRIMA WITH TKD

Grandmaster Vince Palumbo, aka 'GMV'
recently conducted a huge seminar at
United Taekwondo in Sydney, with over 100
instructors and students training together
for more than six hours. GM Palumbo was
assisted by two of his dedicated masters on
the day, which included instruction in a broad
range of styles.

The day started with a mixture of boxing,
kickboxing and taekwondo, and offered
students a different perspective on how
to cover ground effectively and prepare
for close quarters combat. Once warmed
up, participants were paired up for some
sparring. GMV explained the theory and
then demonstrated the effectiveness of
each technique on many willing instructors
and students.

The afternoon session transformed
United's basic taekwondo blocks and strikes
into jiu-jitsu self-defence. Beginning with
a low section block, students were taught
to take an opponent to the ground into a

choke, which used a rising block to shut off
the carotid artery, an outer forearm block
to secure the elbow, and our inner forearm
block to lock off the arm. GM Palumbo's
approach was aimed to give a different
perspective on self-defence without losing
any respect of the dynamics of taekwondo,
as practised by most of the students.

In a fitting conclusion, the seminar
finished with a Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima
Filipino stick and knife defence technique
focussing on the effectiveness of simplicity
in motion.

"The versatility of the dagger captivated
the members and the feedback suggested
that adding eskrima techniques to
taekwondo will only enhance the art. I
would highly recommend the experience,"
said United Taekwondo head instructor
Paul Mitchell.

"United Taekwondo students gained
a better understanding of the benefits of
learning from a world champion."

AIS Taekwondo
Athlete Clinics

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)
will look to unearth the next wave
of Australian taekwondo talent by
coordinating four state-based taekwondo
clinics around Australia in conjunction with
Sports Taekwondo Australia (STA).

The clinics will be free of charge and
are open to any emerging taekwondo
athlete born between 1996 and 2001.
Officials from each of the clinics will
select a small group of exceptional medal
potential taekwondo athletes to continue
receiving support from the AIS.

For more information, visit the web
page www.sta.asn.au/?Page=1250 or call
Raul Landeo on 0401 268 914.

• How to achieve the splits
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Call: (03) 9574 8460 or

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BLITZ & PIECES

NEWS & EVENTS

GMVP back in Shanghai

Grandmaster Vince Palumbo
continued his recent busy
schedule in Shanghai,

China, where he returned to
demonstrate Filipino stick-
fighting techniques to some
of the students at Professor
Stanley Tam's Shanghai
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Academy.

The workshop was done over
30 hours and drew unarmed
combat instructors from all
over China.

GM Palumbo was also
invited to demonstrate tactical
law enforcement expandable
baton techniques to members
of Shanghai Police SWAT Team
at Shanghai Police Academy.
Aside from his extensive
curriculum of 'Tactical Law

Enforcement Expandable
Baton' training, GM Palumbo
also taught weapon retention
and disarming involving a knife,
sword, bottle and iron bar.

"I taught the SWAT Team
members for three days, and
I was under their constant
observation, especially from the
chief director and all his leading
high-ranking officers of the
Shanghai Police Academy," said
GM Palumbo.

"I had to do my best there
to really impress these guys."

At the end of the
workshop, the academy's
chief director presented the
GM with an official certificate
of accreditation as one
of the academy's official

instructors for tactical law
enforcement techniques.

"This was such an incredible
presentation, because everyone
applauded for me, and it was
obvious to see that they all
enjoyed my really informative
workshops there at the
Shanghai Police Academy," GM
Palumbo added.

Speaking with Blitz
upon his return from China,

GM Palumbo shared his
thoughts on the current
state of law enforcement
weapons expertise.

"Elere in Australia, the law
enforcement departments
don't want to know me,
because they think that they
already know it all. This is a
shame," said GM Palumbo.

"Because they don't know
it all, and their techniques
are not effective enough. I
actually have police officers
training at my academy to
learn more from me, because
it seems that they have been
taught very little at the police
academy. [There were] very
limited techniques that they
were taught, which were so
very basic and outdated...
Times are changing, and not
for the best, either, so the law
enforcement groups need to
get better and more consistent
training in the different areas
of tactical response training,
especially for the officers' own
personal self-defence as well."

GM Palumbo now has four
affiliated schools in China and
is planning his next visit.

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KARATEKAS
KICKING OUT
CANCER

Martial artists from the
Goonellabah region in
New South Wales got
together in October to
train and raise funds
for the male cancer
awareness foundation
Blue September.

Martial arts clubs
across Lismore were
invited, with support
from Shukokai Karate
and Success Martial
Arts making the day
a successful one, as
participants of all ages
and experience levels
took to the mats.

A local prostate cancer
support group were
also on hand to provide
brochures, educate and
help raise awareness
among participants.

"We had about
20 people sparring
almost continuously
for two hours," said
organiser and Lismore
Karate instructor Mark
McFadden in an interview
with the Northern Star.

"We even had a
Kyokushin karate club
travel down from
Brisbane for the event...

It was a fantastic
opportunity to test our
skills against so many
different styles, and we
had raised money and
awareness of cancers
that attack men."

After the success of
the inaugural event,
organisers hope to make
the gathering an annual
date on their calendars.

14 • www.blitznnag.net

BLUE SEPTEMBER

HANSHI HAYNES’ BREAK
SETS WORLD RECORD

Hanshi Bruce Haynes, 10th
Degree Black-belt and 47-tinne
world tameshiwari (breaking)
champion successfully broke
the World Guinness Book
record on 12 October at the
World Budo Kan Association
Festival of Martial Arts
and Culture 2014 in South
Australia. The 65-year-old set
the new mark at 410 kg (16
slabs) of concrete with a single
punch, surpassing the previous
mark of 365 kg he set 14
years ago.

Hanshi Haynes embarked
on a mission to surpass his
old mark in order to raise
money for a unique
dojo orphanage
in Zambia, Africa.

The dojo, run by
Sensei Jonathan
Kruger, takes in
orphan children
and provides
them with food,
clothing, shelter
and guidance. It
was no doubt an
emotional night for
all those involved,
with a teary Sensei
Kruger the first to
congratulate Hanshi
Haynes with a hug
after the break.

Channel Nine SA
News were even

on site to capture the moment
of the world record break
and managed to get Hanshi
Haynes' thoughts right after
the big moment.

"I've never hit anything
that hard before, anything that
big," said Haynes. The punch
resulted in a broken hand for
the Aussie martial arts veteran,
who says he will now retire
from tameshiwari.

"Up until three weeks
ago I thought I was actually
going to have my finger (right
index) amputated... My hand is
broken, doesn't matter — just
doesn't matter," he said.

Martial arts events calendar

LEGEND

■ AKKA HAFBJJ HAKE HTA
DECEMBER

5th-7th - Australian National Championships

For more information on 2014-2015 events and their respective organising
bodies, visit the following websites:

Australian Kyokushin Karate Association (AKKA) - www.akka.com.au
Australian Federation of Brasilian Jiu Jitsu (AFBJJ) - www.afbjj.com
Taekwondo Australia (TA) - www.taekwondoaustralia.org.au
Australian Karate Federation (AKF) -www.akf.com.au

SYDNEY'S WORLD CLASS
MARTIAL ARTS CENTRE

1 / 5-7 Deadman Road, Moorebank Sydney
PH 02 9605 6193 or 0416 227 872

BLITZ & PIECES

NEWS & EVENTS

ARNOLD CLASSIC 2015 MARTIAL ARTS
FESTIVAL LINE-UP TAKES SHAPE

The Arnold Classic Martial
Arts Festival continues to take
shape with Master Kelly Seif
from Melbourne's XFC jumping
on board as the promoter for
the muayThai and kickboxing
competitions at the one-of-a-
kind event.

Since beginning his martial
arts training in 1979, Master
Seif has gone on to establish
himself as a respected trainer
with over 20 years' experience.
Fie is also a 5th Degree Black-
belt Flapkido Combatives
instructor and a 5th Degree
Black-belt in taekwondo.

Master Seif joins event
director and 6th Dan Geido Kai
Black-belt Silvio Morelli as part
of the martial arts promotional
team. Other promoters include
the likes of WASO president
Jim Casey, taekwondo
stalwarts Martin and Janette
Flail, Kyokushin Black-belts
Peter and Maria Rich, BJJ
pioneer John Will, and 6th Dan
Ishinryu master Bruce Flyland,
with more to be announced in
the near future.

Just like the world-famous
Arnold Sports Festival in the
USA, the Australian instalment
is set to encompass a
multitude of competitions
and sporting events catering
to a wide range of sports
and fitness enthusiasts and
competitors. Martial artists
can look forward to a variety
of great competitions including
World All Styles (WASO),
taekwondo, Brazilian jiu-
jitsu, karate, kung fu, MMA,
kickboxing and Kyokushin.

The Arnold Classic
Martial Arts Festival
is scheduled to take
place at the Melbourne
Exhibition Centre on
13-15 March, 2015.

For more information on
the Arnold Classic Martial Arts
Festival, visit www.aca2015.
com.au

- Shihan Hans de

—Jong displays the

. certificate awarded
to his late father,

Soke Jan de Jong

Late Soke Jan de Jong receives
posthumous honour

The Annual Australian Ju Jitsu Association (AJJA) Sydney seminar
took place on 4-5 October at Olympic Park in Homebush. The
seminar was again well attended, with jujutsuka travelling from all
over Australia to be part of the event, which attracted 120 to the mat
on Saturday and 85 on Sunday.

Perhaps the highlight of the event was a special presentation by
Sensei Lynn Farmer on behalf of the WJJF UK. In a special moment,
Shihan Hans de Jong accepted this posthumous award for his father,
the late Soke Jan de Jong, who was awarded a 10th Dan.

GM TOM LO HEADS NORTH

Grandmaster Tom Lo recently took time to officiate
the annual Wing Chun grading and training seminar
at Jade Wing Chun Club in Cairns, Old, in October.
Assisting GM Lo were the two club founders in
Sifu Robert Storer and Sihing Grant Morris.

The seminar was deemed a success with over
50 participants in attendance and it even managed
to bring in coverage from local newspapers and
TV networks.

GM Lo used the seminar to teach the
'secrets' of Wing Chun footwork and outlined the
philosophies of learning this art with deep respect.

Uniquely, one of the main focuses of the
seminar was learning how to train martial arts and
avoiding hurting or injuring your training partners.

16 • www.blitznnag.net

Australian Kyokushin
Karate Assocation Inc.

Founded in
1974

136 YEARS OF COMBINED TRAINING EXPERIENCE

For membership to the AKKA, please contact
any of the above Branch Chiefs

PIONEERS OF
KYOKUSHIN IN
AUSTRALIA

Uft to riglit:

Branch Chief: Shihancho Gary
Viccars | 7TH dan | victoria

0418 347 088
shihancho@vic.chariot.net.au

Chairman: Hanshi John Taylor

9TH DAN I NEW SOUTH WALES

0418 284 100
shihantaylor@ozemail.com.au

Branch Chief: Shihan Tony
Bowden | 6th dan| Queensland

0417 780 905
shihan@westnet.com.au

The foundation of Kyokushin

Ha

Come see what it takes to fulfill
a Strong Mind, Body and Spirit

www.akka.com.au

BLITZ & PIECES

MARTIAL MOVIES with cunt morris

L

DVD REVIEW: THE EXPENDABLES 3

The Expendables T\\rr\s are movie manure movie here. Sure, the script is no match

— but each instalment has gradually been for Hughes' obvious skills behind the

a better bowel movement than the last. camera, but the movie is all the better for

The first was utter diarrhoea, the second the injection of enthusiasm and imagination

endurable crap, and this third, sloppy but not that Hughes brings.

as stinky as you'd expect. In fact, it's the franchise's 'newbies' that

Sylvester Stallone's third in the Dirty actually bring most of the film's energy

Dozen meets Cannonball Run hybrid trilogy and supply most of its good moments:

essentially follows the same stencil as the Wesley Snipes gives his most sprightly

first two: a bunch of old action vets team up performance in a decade; Harrison Ford,
to take down another old action vet while though likely bored, has the best fake
patronising themselves with quippy one- 'I'm having fun here' look of them all;

liners that usually pertain to their previous and Antonio Banderas is amusing as the

roles. Thankfully, they've cut back on the overeager middle-aged rookie. Best of all

meta jokes this time around; they've also is Mel Gibson as the film's bad guy.Trying

found themselves a couple of old sports who to elevate the film, Gibson really throws

weren't told 'don't act, just play', and there's himself into the role of Banks, giving an
a plot that, while horribly thin, isn't half as enjoyably aggressive and welcomingly

diet-meat as the librettos of the previous hammy performance as a formidable — if

chapters. underwritten — villain.

This time around, the Expendables — the The martial arts stars of the film —
usual crew, joined by series newbies Wesley Rousey, Statham, and Snipes — don't get
Snipes, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz, Antonio to showcase much of their skills, if only
Banderas and Harrison Ford — go up against because there are too many characters here
an old enemy of Barney's (Stallone), non- and only an hour and a half of film to share

dutiful scumbag Conrad Banks, played by between them, but Rousey participates in

Mel Gibson (yes, he's that desperate now). at least one cool fight scene, set in a club.

Aussie Patrick Hughes (Red Hill) serves The Expendables 3 hits DVD and Blu-ray

up a slick-looking, super-energised action on 11 December.

Jackie Chan’s junk

Jackie Chan says he's not
ashamed of his 'adult movie'
past. "I had to do anything I could
to make a living 31 years ago,
but I don't think it's a big deal,
even Marlon Brando used to be
exposed in his movies," says the
action legend. The adult comedy
film, titled All in the Family, was
released in 1975 and featured an
exposed Chan in a sex scene.

Another actor with a dodgy film
in his back catalogue is Chan's
friend Sylvester Stallone. The
Rocky star said he had no choice
at the time but to do the soft-porn
flick The Party at Kitty and Stud's
— he needed to eat. "It was either
do that movie or rob someone else
because I was at the end — at the
very end — of my rope. Instead
of doing something desperate, I
worked two days for $200 and got
myself out of the bus station."

DACASCOS RETURNS!

Mark Dacascos (Cradle 2 the
Grave: The Crowjy series) will
star in Ultimate Justice, the
next offering from Mike Leeder
and Ruediger Kummerle's
company Silent Partners. Plot
details are being kept under
wraps but considering this is
the first film Dacascos has
headlined in quite some time,
he must've thought it good
enough to come out of semi-
retirement for. Ultimate Justice
is due for release in 2015.

18 • www.blitznnag.net

ALBERT PYUN BETTING ON WRONG REOO

With a new incarnation of
Kickboxer headed for the cameras,
and both Bloodsport and TimeCop
getting the redo treatment
sometime soon too, it'd seem the
back catalogue of Jean-Claude
Van Damme is now a free-for-all
in regards to Hollywood remakers.
Albert Pyun, director of Van
Damme's Cyborg, says he's been
approached to direct a remake of
Wrong Bet — but unlike the other
JC remakes that are in the works,
this one would again feature the
Muscles from Brussels.

"I've been approached about
directing a remake of Van Damme's
Lionheart[the film's other name]

with Van Damme by the rights
holding distributor," the filmmaker
posted on Facebook. "Not sure if I
will do this as it doesn't seem to be
a film needing a remake. I guess
I'd change the Los Angeles setting
to Hong Kong, but I am not sure
it fits in with what I do. But I told
the rights holder I will consider it
depending on how excited JCVD is
about it. And if I can make it with
my vision of it."

The distributor doesn't own
the sequel rights, only the remake
rights.

"I'm not sure a remake is in
order except it would be nice to
see JCVD flex those martial art

muscles again, especially against
MMA fighters!" Pyun adds. "If I
don't feel I can bring something
new and better to it. I'll pass."

Pyun is also developing a film
based on Napoleon, which he

wants Van Damme to star in. That
film would shoot next April if it gets
the go-ahead.

"The Napoleon shoot has to be
set for next April due to weather
in Croatia or Bulgaria. I think the
distrib' wants this remake — or, in
my case, re-imagining — to shoot
this year."

Pyun says that if he decides
to do the Wrong Bet redo, he
hopes to get Sheldon Lettich,
who wrote and directed the
original, back to write the remake.
He'd also like Sasha Mitchell,
who played Van Damme's
brother in Kickboxer2: The Road
Back, to co-star in the film.

RUSH HOUR TV
SHOW GREENLIT

So much for a Rush Hour
4, hey? CBS has committed
to making a Rush Hour
series — and no, it won't
star movie duo Jackie Chan
and ChrisTucker.TheTV
remake is in similar tone to
the New Line Cinema films
and follows a by-the-book
Hong Kong police officer
who is assigned to a case
in LA, where he's forced
to work with a smug black
LAPD officer who has no
interest in a partner. Bill
Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin
City) is behind the series,
with Rush Hour director
Brett Ratner on board as
an executive producer.

The Rush Hour films
have made New Line
Cinema over $850 million
worldwide.

Pop singer has fighting chops

Frank Grillo, star of the new
series Kingdom, which is set
in a Mixed Martial Arts club,
has come out defending the
casting of pop singer Nick
Jonas as his son on the show.

"We have the same agent
and when his name came up I
said, 'No way. It's never going
to happen. No way is he ever
going to be on the show'," Grillo
said about Jonas. "They said,

'Let him come in and read.' He
came in and read with 30 other
guys. By the way, the kid was
ripped, okay, really serious and
he was by far the best actor of
the 30. He won the job and he
absolutely had to work twice as
hard as everybody else. Then

they get him in the cage and
did a three-week camp and he
is probably the best athlete.
This kid threw a standing
triangle on Cub Swanson

and everybody opened their
eyes... The kid is amazing. I
would put him in the cage with
any amateur that thinks he is
tougher than a Jonas brother."

Adkins forfeits Kickboxer bout

Scott Adkins will not be a part of the Kickboxer
remake, as previously reported. The Ninja star
was approached to play the brother of the lead
character (played by Alain Moussi), but upon
reading the script, he felt that the character didn't
have enough to do and didn't have enough
physical scenes. Instead, Adkins is reuniting
with Ninja helmer Isaac Florentine for the
film Close Range, about a man who
lives on a ranch and must protect
his family from crooked cops and
a drug cartel. That one begins
filming in December.

www.blitznnag.net • 19

BLITZ & PIECES

MARTIAL ARTS GEAR

DOUBLE TAI CHI SWORDS & SCABBARD

These double tai chi swords from World Wide
Martial Arts come concealed in a single scabbard
and feature handles that are flat on the inside
so they appear to be one sword until separated.
Perfect for kung fu competition and training, these
straight alloy swords feature dual red tassles on the
butt and a Chinese golden dragon design on the
black scabbard.

Price: $125 (usually $175!)

Supplier: www.worldwidemartialarts.com.au

VIPER PRO COMBAT
SPEED ROPE

There are many reasons the
skipping rope is a fighter's best
friend. Jumping rope can be used
to reproduce the energy demands
of the ring by alternating between
rounds of skipping double-time and
rounds of jogging in place or slower
jump sets, but it's also the perfect exercise to
train the feet to move fast over short distances
— just what's needed for effective footwork.

Made from coated aircraft cable for super
strength and durability, the Viper Pro Combat
Speed Rope features a dual closed bearing swivel for smooth, fast skipping, and a
heavy-duty aluminium handle to generate maximum speed.

Lightweight and portable, the Viper Speed Rope also features an 11-inch
adjustable rope length, so it can be customised to the individual.

Price: $24.99

Available at: www.stingsports.com

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MTG PRO LEATHER
BOXING GLOVES

Designed for maximum comfort and
support, MTG's Pro Leather Boxing
Gloves are made with durable top-grade
leather and comprise a combination of
multi-layered foams for superior shock
absorption to help protect against injury
during sparring and heavy bag use. MTG's
new enso-grip combines with the moisture-
wicking inside liner and the ventilation
holes to aid in keeping hands as cool, dry
and secure as possible during intense
training. The extra-thick elastic wraparound
wrist closures assure proper wrist support
and hassle free removal.

Available in blue, black or red and in five
sizes: 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 (ounces).

Price: $99

Supplier: www.worldwidemartialarts.com.au

BOOK: BRUCE LEE: THE EVOLUTION OF A MARTIAL ARTIST

In his new book Bruce Lee: The
Evolution of a Martial Artist, author
Tommy Gong traces Lee's path as
he developed his martial art of Jeet
Kune Do and his philosophy of self-
actualisation. That path led Lee from
Hong Kong to Seattle and then to
Oakland and Los Angeles, and back to
Hong Kong as he evolved from a student
of Wing Chun to the founder of 'the
way of the intercepting fist'. Through his
quest for the ultimate martial art, Lee
ultimately discovered himself.

In his effort to chronicle Lee's
progression in martial arts techniques
and training methods, Gong had

unprecedented access to Lee's
childhood classmates, former students
and family friends. In addition, he had
the cooperation of Lee's wife, Linda Lee
Cadwell, and daughter. Shannon Lee,
who provided rare and unique photos,
letters and personal writings from the
Bruce Lee Enterprises archives.

Bruce Lee: The Evolution of a Martial
Artist offers a close, personal look into
the world of Bruce Lee that makes for
a must-have book for fans of the iconic
movie legend as well as students of the
martial arts and JKD.

Price: $29.95

Supplier: www. sportzbiitz. n e t/on line store

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This philosophy is called

Jeet Kune De

Contact Sifu RICARDO VARGAS
to kick start or further your Martial Arts journey
with our Jeet Kune Do Training Programs:

•All ages classes • Private Tuition • Seminars

15 Vintage Road, Underdale, South Australia 5032

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^ jkdaustralia@gmaiLcom @ 0459 785 073

Ricardo Vargas Jeet Kune Do

[f]

MARTIAL MINDS

5 MINUTES WITH WAYNE ABBOTT

A Pink-belt Who Never Gave Up

Master Wayne Abbott is a busy man. Not only does he run Sydney’s popular Fighting Fit Martial
Arts Centre and work full time as a sales manager, he is also the man behind the Pink Belt Dojo
initiative — a martial arts-inspired program aimed at creating awareness and raising funds for
those in need within the local community. Blitz chatted with Master Abbott to find out how he's
bringing martial artists together for the cause, and how we all become ‘honourary Pink-belts’.

INTERVIEW BY BOON MARK SOUPHANH

W ayne, how did you
get your start in
martial arts?

I started when I was 12, in
1978. I began with judo and
studied until Blue-belt. A year
later, I began taekwondo at
Rhee International Tae Kwon
Do under school Master Joe
Gribble. My interest in martial
arts and Asian culture goes
back to my family history, as
my mother was born in China
and lived there until the age
of 16. My grandfather was
Chinese and my grandmother
was Russian, and their family
migrated to Australia in the
early 1950s. Of course, my
father is Australian and so we
had some really interesting
family gatherings! I got my
Black-belt in taekwondo when I
was 16 years and nine months
old — I was the youngest
Black-belt at the club then. I
trained all through my HSC and
then started my own school
straight after as an instructor
for Rhee International — I was
18 at the time. We were based
in Mount Druitt and my first
students were six mates from
high school.

What styles have you
trained in throughout the
years and what are some key
lessons you've taken from
each of them?

I've always been open-
minded to the benefits of cross
training and have taken part in
many workshops from visiting
martial artists during the years,
dabbling in a little karate, tai chi.

kung fu and kickboxing — just
enough to respect all styles.
There is so much information
available to martial artists
these days and I have a library
of DVDs that I share with my
students. I love to watch MMA
and greatly appreciate the skill
of the combatants, but there is
one trend that really interests
me, and that is 'extreme martial
arts' or XMA. I've developed a
relationship with Mr Mike Chat
from XMA in the United States
and have an exceptionally
strong group of extreme martial
arts performers in our school. I
look forward to the day when
a potential customer calls on

the phone and asks, 'Do you
teach extreme martial arts at
your school?'

The first thing I ask any new
student that walks through the
door is, 'Why are you here?'

I listen to what they have
to say, I don't just hear it —
that's something that's really
important. When they tell me,

'I want to learn how to fight,' I
will turn that around on them
and ask, 'Who do you want
to fight?' A lot of interesting
stories from the students
come out when I ask questions
like this.

Besides the obvious
physical benefits, how has

martial arts helped you in
other aspects of life?

The great thing about martial
arts is that it can be whatever
it needs to be for you at any
particular stage of your life.

So, as an 18-year-old fresh out
of high school and needing to
earn an income, opening my
first school helped me get by
and make ends meet. Soon
after, I joined the NSW Police
Force during a period of reform
— I have so much respect for
the men and women of the
police force. It is one of the
toughest jobs, and my martial
arts training not only kept me
safe, but helped me cope with

22 • www.blitznnag.net

some of the most difficult and
emotional experiences that you
could imagine.

Growing up, I lived in a
household where there was
domestic violence. When I
was 15, I actually approached
my father during a domestic
incident and warned him not
to touch my mother again.

It was successful and there
was no need for any physical
confrontation between the
two of us. I know that without
martial arts, I wouldn't have
been able to muster the
courage to do that. I remember
thinking to myself, 'If martial
arts can do this for me, I can
also do this for others' — that's
when I decided I wanted to
make martial arts my career.

Should martial artists
make more of an effort to
reach out to sufferers of
domestic violence? How can
we do this?

Yes, we should. I think
people look to the martial arts
as an industry that can help
address domestic violence and
bullying. Many martial artists
preach this, but sometimes
you need to do more than
just talk about these issues
— you have to convey these

messages in actions. This
starts on the mats by teaching
and adhering to the notions of
discipline and respect. How you
handle it from there depends
on what you are told and
you should refer the student
to the appropriate support
networks should you feel you
aren't equipped to deal with
their issues.

Business and martial
arts seem like very different
entities, but you've managed
to tie them together in your
life. How did this come
about? What principles do
they share?

I've had a diverse career.
Besides martial arts, I really
enjoy the automotive industry
that I work in. I've been self-
employed as a franchisee,
worked for the fastest growing
retailer in Australia, and
coached business owners with
turnovers as high as six million
dollars a year as their franchise
manager. I've also dealt with
some of the best-known
brands in middle and upper
corporate management.

Through all of this, martial
arts has always been the glue
that's kept everything together.

I believe martial arts is a great

tool for any entrepreneurial-
minded young person —
without a doubt, the martial
arts Black-belt is the perfect
business accessory. To be
successful, you need to show
respect to your competitors and
ensure you are ethical in your
dealings; to have discipline and
be structured in your approach
but willing to innovate and try
something different and learn
something new.

Did you find your
expertise in this area helped
you in starting up your
own school?

Without a doubt. That, along
with some friendly advice
from [Blitz Publications CEO]

Mr Silvio Morelli many years
ago, provided the catalyst. For
new school owners, there are
some very good marketing and
resource materials available
to help your school grow.
However, just because you are
a good martial arts practitioner
or instructor doesn't mean
you will automatically be a
successful school owner. I've
definitely been able to apply
my corporate and business
experience to running my own
school. I realised very early
on that the school had to be

The Master s
Tips

Master Abbott on what to
consider if starting your own
martial arts school:

Define why you're doing it. You'll
face many challenges along the
way, but if you go in with a clear
idea of what your core values
are, it will help you a lot. You
have to adhere to these values
in every class, so knowing why
you're really doing it goes a long
way to building success.

On managing time and
setting goals:

I guess the ultimate goal for
everyone is to make a living out
of doing something they love, so
finding enjoyment in what you
do will go a long way making
things easier. When I started my
school, I made sure that I trained
and developed other instructors.
The school should always be
bigger than one person. I've
been on the end of some injuries;
however. I've always had others
from the school there to rally
around me when I needed. If
you give to your students, they'll
give back.

•Abbott as a 16-year-old
^ Brown-belt in 1980

www.blitznnag.net • 23

MARTIAL MINDS

5 MINUTES WITH WAYNE ABBOTT

Master Abbott and the Pink Belt Dojo

bigger than any one person,
including myself.

The other big factor in
starting my school was in
fact my daughter, Savannah.
When she was six, we noticed
that she was having some
difficulties with reading and
writing. It was a condition
that could've easily been
misdiagnosed as ADHD or
something similar; however,
we discovered it was in fact
retained reflexes, a condition
which causes them to gain or
lose 20 different reflexes. You
have to retrain the child through
a series of physical activities in
order to treat them, and various
sources stated that martial arts
was one of best things to teach
children with this condition.
After I started teaching my kids
martial arts, my daughter ended
up going from the bottom of
the class to the top of the class
in less than 18 months.

You speak of "Black-
belt excellence' in your
school's syllabus. What is
this concept?

I believe that most people
would agree that the martial
art Black-belt is a symbol
recognised for its dedication
to excellence and honourable
achievement. To be able to
dedicate yourself to something
will require vision and a belief

in yourself. Excellence shapes
what we repeatedly do and
the good habits we form. Your
achievements in martial arts
depend on a community of
people working together, and to
be honourable means we must
be congruent by making sure
that we follow up, act and do
what we say — simple as that.

More recently, you've
launched the 'Pink Belt Dojo'
program. Tell us a bit about
what that is? What's the story
behind the name?

I've always wanted to make
sure that my school gave back
to our local community. In 2011,
one of the fathers from our
school sadly passed away from
cancer. He had three daughters
training at our school, so we
decided to hold an event to
raise funds and support the
family through the tough time.
That experience got me thinking
that I could potentially take this
to another level, to the point
where we could unite the mats
between schools in order to
give back to the community
— when one mother from our
school was diagnosed with
breast cancer, this gave me real
purpose to do so. I told her that
we'd do anything we could to
support her and her family, so
we pulled something together
in order to raise funds — that

would become the first ever
Pink Belt Dojo event. My wife
suggested the name and I
thought, 'Why not?', as I was
struggling to come up with
names myself {laughs).

Literally hours after launching
the Facebook page, I found out
that one of the kids from our
school had passed away in a car
accident — it was devastating.
So we were now running the
event for two families in need,
and the message was definitely
one synonymous with the
martial arts: to keep pushing
forward through overwhelming
odds. I have two big schools
within five minutes' drive of
mine — Hawkesbury Martial
Arts and UTF Black Belt School
— and they both threw their
support my way, 100 per cent.
We also got Mr Mike Chat
down from the US along with
two of his students; they
were extremely supportive
and were an inspiration. The
two-day event was a huge
success and at its peak had
close to 400 people there with
150 participants involved. Our
overall goal was achieved and
we were able to donate $2500
to the Bridget Wright Trust and
$3500 to support [the mother
with] breast cancer. We look
forward to working with other
martial arts leaders and schools

to support those families in the
martial arts community who
face difficult times.

Do you feel there's a shift
in the way martial artists
approach working with one
another? Are they keener to
work with one another than
in the past?

I choose not to be exclusive.
Up until three years ago, our
school never competed in
tournaments, but now we are
heavily involved in I SKA, NAS
and other local competitions. As
a school, I think we've broken
down a lot of barriers within
these tournaments. I give my
students instructions to clap
and cheer competitors from
all schools and show gratitude
towards all officials — win, lose
or draw. I think that wins us a
lot of respect, not just trophies.
In running Pink Belt Dojo, other
instructors trusted me with their
students and weren't worried
about students ever crossing
over — at the end of it, it was
all just a great big hug.

What do you hope to
achieve in the rest of your
career in martial arts, with
your school, and with Pink
Belt Dojo?

As for our school, we
will continue to develop our
students and instructors to
provide them opportunities and
grow the school. We adopted
a shift towards situational
leadership practices blended
with our martial arts training
a long time ago so that we
developed strong links between
their training and life skills.

As martial artists, we often
support the families in our
schools — that's what we do.
However, as leaders we have
the ability to coach, mentor,
motivate and inspire others to
show compassion and support
when needed. Therefore, we
welcome enquiries from like-
minded school owners around
Australia that would like to
nominate members within
their school who need support
and would like a Pink Belt Dojo
event in their state. ■

24 • www.blitznnag.net

From Okinawa’s true masters

Discover never-before-seen moves
and learn the combat secrets hidden in
Okinawa’s ancient karate kata from world
renowned masters. Own rare historical
footage and experience the history of the
island’s most devastating fighting forms

The Jundokan:
More Than Just
Kata

Eisuke Akamine;
Kobudo Hozon
Shinkokai

Meitoku Yagi:
Meibukan Goju Ryu

Eihachi Ota;
Shorin Ryu

Shoshin
Nagamine:
Matsubayashi
Shorin Ryu

Hojo Undo:

Supplementary

Training

Gichin Fu nako^hij
Shotol^nJBBl

Chikara kenpo chief
instructor Gary Palmer

Coming from a long line of champion
boxers, Shihan Gary Palmer was born
ready for a bit of biffo and thus became a
'grasshopper' when he was barely knee-
high to one. But his major achievements
in the martial arts — the founding of
the Chikara kenpo system and captaining
the NSW National All Styles martial arts
competition circuit, as he does today — came
only after many years of hard training in various
styles, during which he also built successful
careers in the Australian army and NSW police
force. Here, he tells Blitz what he learned about
life, combat and teaching along the way.

STORY BY JARROD BOYLE | STUDIO IMAGES BY CLIVE GIRDHAM

M artial arts have been
part of Gary Palmer’s
life for as long as he
can remember.

“I started with boxing,” says
the 60-year-old. “I grew up
with it. I come from a boxing
family. My grandfather was
Dave Palmer, who was both
heavy and light-heavyweight
champion of Australia. He held
several titles — that was back
in the days when they weren’t
so strict about weight; they let
you hght up a division.

“My biggest thrill as
a kid was going to his
house and looking in his
trophy cabinet, which
stretched from wall
to wall and from the

floor to the ceiling. My prized
possession is his gloves, which
he wore when he won his
Australian title.”

Dave’s brother was Ambrose
Palmer, famous both as an
Australian boxer who held
titles at middleweight, light-
heavy and heavyweight as
well as having played 83 hrst-
grade Aussie rules games for
the Footscray Football Club
between 1933 and 1943.

“He was also Johnny
Famechon’s trainer when he
won his world title in 1969.”

Boxing was part of the family
heritage, as was sporting skill.
“Many of my tools came from
[my grandfather] ,” says Palmer.
Much of the advice he now

26

www.blitznnag.net

GHIKARA KENPO VS FRONT-KICK

As his opponent moves toward him, Palmer
notes the shift of his rear hip forward...

. . .and steps left, to the outside of the incoming kick,
taking his target just offline...

. . .as he sweeps his hand down to redirect the leg
and catch the heel, scooping it up from underneath.

Pushing the leg aside delays the attacker's return to balance, . . .then, with his foe moving backwards. Palmer
allowing Palmer to easily parry his foe's hand strike as he hits the rear of his near knee, drawing it in as he
moves up the outside and slams an elbow into the ribs. . . follows through with his elbow. . .

. . .taking the opponent down to his back with As his opponent hits the deck. Palmer maintains control of
a push-pull motion. the leg to avoid being kicked and open up the target. . .

u

I WANT TO PRODUCE
WELL-ROUNDED
MARTIAL ARTISTS,
RATHER THAN A
‘PURE’ EXPERT,
n

3

...SO he can deliver
a finishing heel-
stomp to the groin
or inner thigh.

www.blitznnag.net

27

Clockwise from top: A young Palmer (far left) in his army days; Palmer in more recent times as a NSW police officer; a little bloody after a karate grading;
The fighting Palmers: Billy, Dave (Gary Palmer's grandfather) and Ambrose, who was also a star Aussie rules football player

passes on to his own students
he hrst heard uttered by his
pa — ‘“You can’t hit a moving
target’, and ‘Soon as you plant
your feet, you’re a target’” are
among the favourites.

Palmer set about developing
these and other skills at the local
Police Boys’ Club in Paramatta.
Many of the influential hgures
in Palmer’s early years were
larger than life.

“The trainer was a man-
giant named Gunther,” Palmer
remembers. “If you weren’t
training hard enough, he’d push
your partner out of the way and
take over!”

Boxing is alive in many of
Palmer’s early memories.

“I remember sparring in the
backyard with pa and dad. They
were the best memories. My dad
was away a lot in the navy; 1
adored my grandfather. I really
enjoyed those times.”

Those older role models had
a signihcant impact on Palmer.
He, too, pursued a career in the

military eventually becoming an
instructor of artillery.

“1 was an instructor in the
school of artillery at Manly —
‘Bullshit Castle’, we used to
call it. My father was a career
sailor in the navy, and my
grandfather had been in the
army during World War Two.
Having military parents meant
they instilled a strict sense of
self-discipline, self-reliance and
respect. Treat people the way
you want to be treated.”

Military life may have
represented the inculcation of
his values, but it also brought
Palmer to a sense of his own
calling as an instructor.

“1 started instructing in the
army in 1975 as a 22-year-old,”
he says. “It was a big buzz.

1 found that, for me, being
appointed as an instructor
was a turning point, because
1 discovered leadership. It
seemed to suit me. I enjoyed
being in a position to
help people.”

This is a most unusual
dehnition of leadership, but is at
the core of the best instructors’
and teachers’ approaches.

Army life also brought
Palmer to his experience of
Eastern martial arts.

“I played rugby and squash
while I was in the army. Toward
the end of the Vietnam War, I
suffered a training injury playing
rugby; my shoulder and elbow
were smashed. A friend of mine
was doing taekwondo. . . This
was during the ’70s, when I was
about 23.”

Palmer had been well
prepared for the rigours
of martial arts through his
experience of contact sports.

“I loved [taekwondo]. It
was hard training. I got broken
hngers and toes! Then, when I
got out of the army, around 26
or 27, family life took over.”

Some years later. Palmer
found himself returning to
training after a family member
was assaulted.

“I had a young family,
and my then-wife’s sister was
attacked at work. It led us back
to wanting skills to protect our
family and ourselves. We went
back [to martial arts training]
as a family venture; my wife
and my two kids all went
back together.”

“I’ve been training with
Gary for 20 years,” says Wayne
Morrison, long-time friend and
fellow instructor in Chikara
kenpo. “All the kids joined;
he made us feel welcome. My
original purpose was because
my son was being picked on at
school. Gary began by giving
him a crash-course in defence
— no retaliation.”

“He was a good-natured, soft
sort of kid and he was being
picked on by a group,” Palmer
recalls. “Rather than starting
with the White-belt syllabus, I
showed him how to break away
from holds. . .how to get away.

“He came to class one
afternoon and went straight up

28 • www.blitznnag.net

the back of the dojo and Wayne
came to me and said there had
been another incident. It turned
out this time, his son had been
suspended. The group had tried
to attack him and he used a palm-
heel strike to the chest. It sent
the other kid flying into an air-
conditioning unit and broke it. If
anything, Wayne’s son ended up
becoming someone to whom other
kids who were being picked on
would come because they couldn’t
defend themselves.”

In addition to values of self-
discipline and self-reliance. Palmer’s
early experiences also taught him
the value of family. This dedication
to family formed the basis of the
success of Palmer’s club.

“He’s thoughtful and
family-oriented. Gary works to
accommodate them as much as
possible,” says Morrison.

That approach was successful;
all three of Morrison’s children
went on to achieve their Black-belts
under Palmer’s instruction.

Over time. Palmer began to
gravitate towards kenpo.

“The thing that attracted me to
kenpo was the self-defence aspect,”
says Palmer. “It’s a self-defence
art. Ed Parker [American kenpo
founder] said that, ‘Kenpo people
don’t get involved in a fight; they
use a technique to finish it.’

“My style, Chikara kenpo, is
a hybrid. We incorporate other
influences and things. These days,
if I see or learn something of use
or benefit. I’m going to bring it in.

I want to [produce] well-rounded
martial artists, rather than a ‘pure’
expert.”

Palmer’s goal is to produce the
most effective practitioner.

“To me, a martial artist has to
have a well-rounded background.
They transcend their learning and
enter mushin or ‘no mind’. You
learn [the technique], but employ it
without having to think too much
about it. There’s an old saying, ‘If
you have to think about it, then
you don’t know it’.”

While this is true, self-defence
is the purpose that functions as a
guiding light in Chikara kenpo.

“Kenpo is fairly complicated;
there are a lot of techniques. Kenpo
people do three things at once:
kick, punch and avoid. The idea

CHIKARA KENPO VS JAB

As his opponent begins shaping up and ...he suddenly throws his rear hand but takes a full step in with
closing the distance. . . it, rapidly bridging the gap; Palmer shifts to the outside, sweeping

his left around to the rear, taking his centre off line as he covers.

As his opponent has committed and
close. Palmer continues forward, hitting
his foe's floating ribs with a back-fist and
seizing his striking arm...

...to draw his opponent forward and off balance, exposing
his back. Palmer loads a ridge-hand strike...

Without pause. Palmer brings his rear knee
through, clipping his foe's face if it's there, as
he chambers the leg...

...and turns nearly
180 degrees while
dropping his
bodyweight,
to slam it
with power
between the
attacker's
shoulder
blades.

. . .to drive back through the inside of his . . .so Palmer can drive the attacker forward into the ground,

opponent's near leg, reaping it out. . . face down, and control him with an arm/shoulder-lock.

www.blitznnag.net • 29

is not to get involved in a fight.
You execute a technique and
hnish a situation.”

Palmer was a natural ht
as an instructor. Often those
who gravitate to positions of
authority do so for the status
and material advantages but in
Palmer’s case, he was motivated
by the desire to help others
learn, which informs his
strategies as a teacher.

“1 always found he conducted
himself very well,” says
Kancho Jim Casey, president
of the National All Styles
tournament circuit and founder
of KenshinKan Karate, a full-
contact style that grew out of
Kyokushin. “Glenn Coxon was
in charge [of NAS NSW] for
about 20 years and after he left
his position, I got talking to
Palmer. He’s taken it on. . .and
we haven’t looked back.

“His background in the army
and the police force [means] that
he’s disciplined and has integrity.
There are plenty of people [in
martial arts] that are out to make
a buck, but Gary takes pride
in promoting others, rather
than himself.”

Casey’s faith in Palmer is
so assured, he recently paid
Palmer the ultimate compliment
by grading him to the rank of
shihan in his own organisation.
By Casey’s reckoning, shihan
is a rank that should only
be awarded in recognition
of the highest commitment,
demonstrated via signihcant
contribution to the art.

“Has he contributed
to community? Is he a
good citizen? He has to
have conducted himself as
honourably as possible,”

Casey explains.

But this was no ‘honorary’
grade given for time served,
promoting the arts or simply
being a good citizen — a good
deal of Palmer’s sweat was
dropped on the dojo floor as
he completed a feat that most
hghters half his age would
struggle with.

“1 graded him over hve
hours. He had 40 hghts of one-
and-a-half minute rounds. He
did them at 60 years old. . .he

was pretty sore and tired after
it!” Casey says. “1 never grade
anyone outside my organisation,
but 1 did him.”

Palmer looks to set high
standards inside the dojo, but
as Casey has recognised, they
must carry beyond the tatami.
Matthew Bryce, a Black-belt
in Chikara kenpo and long-
standing NAS competitor,
has been following Palmer’s
example since he started high
school. “At that point, I was
slowly becoming an adult and
learning about the world around
me. Shihan Gary stood out; he
actually took an interest in us as
people,” recalls Bryce, returning
to Palmer’s established theme
of family. “[Chikara Kenpo] is
a family-friendly club. Gary’s
interested in teaching you the
art, but also that you grow up
into a decent human being. He
has a fatherly tone as a teacher,
and really is a mentor to us.

“That’s important when
teaching something that is
handed from generation to
generation; there has to be a
certain level of trust. The biggest
single group [in the club] is
kids and teenagers. [They are]
looking for guidance for how
they want to grow up and how
they want to be. An instructor
plays an instrumental role in
people’s lives.”

It’s a role Palmer seems more
than happy to play.

“You’ve got to identify what
works for each individual
student. Try and identify early
on how that student needs to
receive information,” he says.
“Some students need words,
others can mimic and copy.
Others need you to physically
move their hands and feet to
where you need them to be. The
main thing is that they have
to feel good about themselves.
They have to see the positive
outcomes from it.”

Palmer’s way of facilitating
this is to “try to put a correction
in between two compliments
— it tends to work!” he says.

His Black-belts are taught to do
likewise. “Teaching is all about
how someone needs to receive
that information,” he explains.
“You can yell your head off and
one student will take it all in,
while the other student may as
well have heard French. Every
student is different.”

As well as being the state
director of the National All
Styles Tournament in New
South Wales and the ACT,
Palmer is also the assistant
national director under Jim
Casey. His involvement with the
tournament began in his own
time of competing, then with
Renshu Kai.

“I’ve been with the NAS
for 18-to-20 years now,” he
says. “Our club had branches
in Melbourne and Brisbane,

and 1 competed in both states.

1 also competed on the Gold
Coast, and then I started to
run tournaments here in New
South Wales. It became a big
club thing.”

As with his time in the
military Palmer was quickly
attracted to a supervisory role
for pragmatic — as well as
idealistic — reasons.

“The officials knew the rules.
It helped you as an instructor.
Right from the early days, 1 was
competing and refereeing, back
and forth at the same event.
Now, 1 ask people to do exactly
the same thing. . .and they
do it!”

Crucial to the success of the
events are those who give their
time and effort for free.

“Right from the early stages,

1 wanted to become an official.

1 saw the dedication of those
doing it; without officials, there’s
no tournament. You have to
have people willing to give
their time in order to make
it happen.”

Palmer believes tournaments
such as the NAS provide the
opportunity for students and
practitioners to test themselves
and their training, to discover
if they have simply learned a
technique, or actually know it.

“Anyone can set a goal, but
unless it’s your goal, you won’t
care,” says Palmer. “I have
students that don’t want to be

30 • www.blitznnag.net

JAMES GARRETT

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champions but want to test their
skills. The trophy is a bonus.

You can get students to try their
hardest, to do the best they can.

I say to them, ‘The only person
you have to defeat, or be better
than, is yourself.”

This sounds like an idealistic
piece of wisdom, but in the
pantheon of Palmer’s teaching,
it’s a very practical piece
of instruction.

“I can’t say to a student,
‘Come back tomorrow and be
better than Matthew’. Just come
in tomorrow and be better
than yourself.”

“The beauty of the National
All Styles is that it gets you out
of your comfort zone. It teaches
you to adapt; you might have
six opponents on the day, and
you can’t hght all of them the
same way. You have to adapt
to each one and the situation
you’re in. If you can’t adapt, you
get beaten. If you get attacked
on the street, you can’t dehne
the rules. You’ve got to cope
with what comes.”

Ultimately, Chikara kenpo
isn’t an abstract art and
Palmer’s efforts all tie back
into its origins as a system of
self-defence. Yet he hnds that
students who compete progress
faster than those who don’t.
“Sometimes, the best teacher is
yourself,” he reasons. “I’ve got
the utmost respect for those
who step onto the mat to be
judged. It’s a big step in anyone’s
training career.”

The values taught through
competition are somewhat
abstract, in comparison with
the practical realities of kicking,
punching and blocking.

“They learn to have faith in
themselves; trust themselves,”
Palmer says. “I tell them, ‘When
you line up on the mat. . . the
other person has the same
worries. Psyche them out by the
way you conduct yourself’ As
an instructor, you want them to
have self-esteem.”

This conhdence comes
from deploying their learning
under pressure. “NAS is a
great tournament for learning
that your style doesn’t have
the answer to everything,”

says Bryce. “A hghter from
taekwondo will use his legs for
a jab and will want to hght at
long range. Then, you might
get a boxer who wants to be
in close and body-block. For
each style, in its strength lies
its weakness. You learn the
ups and downs, strengths and
weaknesses of different styles,
which makes for a better-
rounded martial artist.”

Palmer’s perspective takes
in the practical aspects of
competition, along with the
broader implications for
every participant.

“Students get conhdence
by using their assets,” he says.
“They learn what their good
techniques and strong points
are. One student used to tell me
how nervous he was. I used to
tell him, ‘If you weren’t. I’d be
worried. You’d be apathetic.’ If
you’re nervous, it makes you
adrenalised and sharp.”

Even though competitive
spirits are high among the wide
range of martial arts styles that
take part in NAS, which often
have nothing to connect them
other than rivalry. Palmer says
it all takes place in a spirit of
inclusion and enjoyment.

“The range of ages of the
participants is between hve
and 55. It’s a place to practise
their art in a safe environment,”
says Palmer. “The spirit and
camaraderie on the floor is
amazing; the students hght each
other and hug at the end. That’s
what it’s all about.”

In contrast to this. Palmer’s
11 -year career as a police
officer working in security
and protection has highlighted
the strengths of his martial
arts training in the face of
real conhict rather than just
friendly hsticuffs.

“To have good reactions
and to be alert and aware are
great assets to have. Your skills
become an inherent part of you
that you’re not always conscious
of,” he says. “It’s given me
a level of conhdence that I
wouldn’t have had.”

Palmer is quick to point out,
though, the difference between
martial arts and police defensive

tactics or ‘deftac’. “Deftac is
designed to defuse things, not
pre-empt them. Your objective
is to protect the officer, the
member of the community, or
even sometimes protect people
from themselves.”

Palmer’s career as a martial
artist effectively began after his
experience in the military and
was brought into focus through
the lens of boxing as taught
to him by his family. This
practical experience has shaped
his opinions on the notion of
‘realistic’ martial arts training.

“I came from military
training to martial arts training.
Military training is, by nature,
real life. It’s ‘life or death’ sort
of training, by necessity,”
Palmer muses.

That sensibility guided his
choice of a suitable art.

“I sought out ‘real’ martial
arts training. It needed to be
hard and realistic,” says the
kenpo master. ‘“Reality-based
training’ has become a bit of
a cliche; instructors want
training to be relevant.

I hate training that is
soft and compliant with
a partner — soft and
touchy-feely.

“If someone grabs you
in real life, they’re not just
going to let you roll their
hand over. You have to execute
some sort of ‘pain compliance’,
as we call it in kenpo. You
attack the groin, throat or eyes
to create a reaction and work
off that reaction. No one’s just
going to softly comply.”

The word budo, used to
describe traditional Japanese
martial arts, literally refers
to ‘the warrior’s road’.

Palmer’s career in martial
arts has been vocational,
and features a number of
signihcant destinations
along the way. Those
destinations — namely
boxing, a military career
followed by immersion
in karate, then kenpo,
culminating in a career in
policing — dehne a leader
who walks this road especially
mindful of those following
behind him. ■

II

SOMETIMES, THE
BEST TEACHER
IS YOURSELF...
rVE GOT THE
UTMOST RESPECT
FOR THOSE WHO
STEP ONTO
THE MAT TO BE
JUDGED,
if

32 • www.blitznnag.net

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On Reality

To choke or not to choke...? ^

Chokes as self-defence techniques
have courted some controversy
over recent years, with some .
security and law enforcement m
groups having banned their ^
use. Here, Brazilian jiu-jitsu
expert John Will weighs
into the debate over their
effectiveness versus their
potential lethality, and
shows how to apply
them correctly.

STORY & INSTRUCTION
BY JOHN BWILL
IMAGES BY CHARLIE
SURIANO

Anyways, after a great dinner, and many a
question about his days as a pro wrestler, I posed a
question that had been rolling around in my head
for some time: “Do sleeper holds really work?”

“Well,” replied a smiling Gene, “Let me put you
in the sleeper, you can count backwards from 10,
and well hnd out?”

1 agreed. And as Stan looked on from the couch.
Gene wrapped a burly arm around my neck.

Ten, nine, eight, maybe seven. . .can’t remember.
After a very vivid (and strangely technicolour)
dream, 1 found myself swimming my way back
into consciousness. The hrst thing 1 noticed was

I remember when 1 hrst experienced being
choked into unconsciousness — well, 1
remember the before and after. It was an
enlightening experience.

It was a dark and stormy night. . .just
kidding. But it was, in fact, after dark. Aussie
world champion kickboxer Stan Longinidis
and 1 had been invited to Gene LeBell’s house
for dinner. For those who don’t know, ‘Judo’
Gene LeBell is an iconic grappler from Los
Angeles, who has led a colourful life as a stunt
coordinator, movie star, professional wrestler
and judoka.

SCAN PAGE
FOR A VIDEO
LESSON ON
CHOKE DO'S
AND DON 'TS

34 • www.blitznnag.net

Gene’s less-than-handsome face
smiling at me; I think I yelped!
The second thing I noticed was
Stan standing on the couch as if
he’d seen a mouse, yelling, “That
is crazy!” or something to that
effect. But that night, my view
on the efficacy of chokes was
solidihed. I vowed that from then
on I’d study them from every
conceivable angle. Coincidentally,
it was only a week or two later
that I headed down to Brazil and
began that very task. This all
took place in 1986, if memory
serves me right.

Since then — or more
precisely, since a few years after
the advent of the UFC (around
the mid-1990s) — BJJ has

enjoyed a level of growth that
has been as rapid as it has been
unflagging. We now see BJJ
competitions with competitors
numbering in the thousands.
Who would have thought it?

And with that growth there has
been a popularisation (dare I say
‘normalisation’) of the idea that
chokes are a very, very effective
tool (even strategy) for winning
hghts. Chokes have gained
public acceptance much in the
same way as have the use of
kicks, knees and elbows since
karate, kung fu and taekwondo
replaced boxing as the average
Westerner’s go-to style of combat.

1 have personally used
chokes to render many people

unconscious on the mat (often
accidentally when my opponent
had refused to tap out); and
on several occasions on the
street. The result was always
the same: after a short ‘nap’, the
recipient of the choke regained
consciousness and was none the
worse for wear. Job done. 1 speak
here of my personal experience,
and do not imply that others
should do the same. Instead,
let’s just look at a few of the pros
and cons of applying chokes
and strangleholds.

Cons: Anytime we are
‘controlling’ an antagonist,
there exists a certain amount
of inherent risk. Chokes are
no different. An opponent left

unconscious can be run over by
a car, for example. Things can
(and do) sometimes go badly
— another reason that proper
training is required to ensure that
we are alert to the state of our
attacker and thus not holding
on to a choke after they have
been rendered unconscious,
and that we don’t leave them in
a vulnerable position (having
hrst ensured the safety of
ourselves and anyone we may
be protecting).

Pros: Chokes can be a very
effective means of bringing a
dangerous (e.g. drug-affected)
antagonist under control
as they do not rely on the
opponent being susceptible to

Will blocks his opponent's forward ...controlling the wrist as his other hand ...to drag the opponent forward of ...and establishes a rear body-

shoulder and seizes an arm. . . scoops deep under his foe's armpit. . . his centre as Will shoots past him. . . lock, pinning one of the arms.

Will then moves
his grips up higher
to the opponent's
biceps/shoulders
and stomps out
the back of one
knee...

...bringing his opponent down backwards. Will then
feeds his left arm under his opponent's and grips his
right wrist...

...before sliding his right forearm into a 'V',
in the point of which sits his foe's throat.

Will then brings his left arm over
the opponent's shoulder...

. . .and grips his biceps with his right hand
while using his left to crank the neck down,

After a few seconds of carotid
artery closure, the opponent is
unconscious. He is then put into a
recovery/control position.

REAR CHOKE >

H 2

CORRECT

Controlling grip: one arm over the Bring the top arm up into a Y, hand to
shoulder and the other under the shoulder (so there's pressure only on
armpit, gripping the wrist. the carotid arteries, not the trachea).

Next, bring the other arm over the
opponent's shoulder — bent in tightly,
elbow down and fist up...

. . .then 'hide' your hand in behind the
opponent's head, palm out. Push your
chest forward and squeeze to choke.

"The result was always the same:
after a short ‘nap’, THE RECIPIENT OF THE
CHOKE REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS AND WAS
NONE THE WORSE FOR WEAR.

Job done.”

Pressure is applied to the trachea; Same again: more pain, but less
less effective and dangerous. precision and control = more danger.

pain-compliance techniques —
meaning, those that force an
opponent to comply through the
delivery of pain — which often
fails to work in real-life scenarios
as our foe’s pain threshold may
be greatly increased by drugs or
even just the adrenaline.

There is, though, another
reason for advocating the use
of chokes when circumstances
warrant it, and this may
become apparent by asking
and answering the following
question: What is the alternative?

Striking (punching, kicking,
kneeing, elbowing, headbutting)
an opponent until they are
rendered incapacitated is the
most commonly employed
alternative. And what are the
ramihcations of using those
strategies? They are often many
and ongoing.

The physiology of choking
is simple: we are cutting off the
oxygen supply to the brain. This
is done, ideally, by applying
pressure to the carotid artery,
the jugular vein and the trachea
(windpipe) — by slowing
the supply of blood to the
brain through the carotid; by
slowing down how quickly the
de-oxygenated blood vacates the
brain through the jugular; and
by stopping the oxygen from
entering the system in the hrst
place by applying pressure to the
trachea. This sends a message to
our opponent’s brain that there’s
not enough oxygen to run the
whole body, so shut everything
down, except the vital stuff, such
as heart and lungs. The most
common outcome of the choke
(almost regardless of the type)
is that after hve-to-10 seconds
of the brain being deprived of
oxygen, the opponent lapses
into unconsciousness. Provided
the choke is released within a
few seconds of their passing
out, resuscitation becomes
unnecessary, as the oxygen starts
being delivered to the brain
again, and the person wakes
up of their own accord; usually
within 10 seconds or so.

After choking someone out,
it’s important to place them in
the ‘recovery position’ on their
side, just in case they decide

to vomit upon waking. Some
people often come out of their
little nap, flailing and jumping
around, highly confused, so it
can pay to keep them under
control for those few seconds
so they don’t injure themselves
(or you).

So, from my perspective, the
use of chokes is, in many ways,
a more humane strategy than
the ‘punch them until they stop
moving’ strategy. There are many,
many more deaths occurring as
a result of striking than there
are from the application of
choking techniques.

But what about the use of
choking (also called ‘vascular
neck restraint’ or VNR)
techniques in law enforcement
circles? In my view, these
techniques are an important
tool that should be included
in the arsenal of military and
law enforcement personnel
alike. Of course, it needs to be
understood that the use of VNR
techniques have their place in an
overall force continuum strategy.
Some police agencies allow the
use of VNR techniques to be
taught in their defensive tactics
programs (and subsequently
used on duties) and others
do not. 1 submit that many of
the departments that do not
allow their use have prohibited
them largely because they were
ignorant of the pros, cons and
efficacy of their use.

When viewed in isolation,
it is possible to put forward
arguments that highlight the
dangers of using vascular neck
restraint as a control option.

But the reality is this: defensive
tactics techniques are rarely
applied in isolation — that
is just not how the rapidly
evolving and dynamic nature
of interpersonal conflict works!
And when we look at it from
the larger context, an obvious
question arises: How do VNR
techniques stack up against
other use-of-force options during
violent conflict? What are the
alternatives when things have
gone close, personal and lives
are on the line?

Consider this excerpt from
an article in Police - The Law

36 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

CORRECT

SIDE

H

0

CHOKE-VERSION 1 ^

Will uses his head and shoulder to
control his opponent's near arm. . .

Will then drives his shoulder and
head into his opponent as he pulls
his right arm in to effect the choke.

Enforcement Magazine, titled
‘Reconsidering Carotid Control’:

Carotid restraint is very
effective in controlling EDPs
and subjects experiencing
an agitated-chaotic event or
presenting with excited delirium
because the hold generates a
painless unconscious state in
7-to-lO seconds. The ability to
quickly and efficiently render
an agitated-chaotic subject
unconscious signihcantly

C — ^ ^

SCAN PAGE
TO READ
'RECONSIDERING
CAROTID
CONTROL'

c J

minimises the risk of in-custody
death that often results from
prolonged struggles, as well as
the physiological exhaustion and
cardiac stress created by multiple
applications of other force
options. The psychophysiological
dynamic of “pain-panic escape

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WWW.BJJ.C0MJUI

CORRECT

SIDE-CHOKE VERSION 2

As Will drives up and in to lift
his opponent's head and slide
his arm through, he opens
out his free arm...

Will then cups his own head with the other
hand and squeezes, putting his bodyweight
into the choke.

. . .and brings his left elbow in tight and low
behind his foe's head, so he can place his
biceps directly into his right palm.

SIDE-CHOKE^

Here, Will is not using a strong
base to pressure his opponent. . .

WRONG

response’' normally associated with ECW
drive-stuns and body compression upon
the resisting subject is also greatly reduced. ’

There have, it is true, been a handful
of instances where subjects of an arrest
procedure have died after having been
rendered unconscious by choking
techniques. But when we look more
deeply into those situations, we hnd that
the choking was ‘proximate’ to the deaths
(i.e. the last thing that happened before
the death) and not necessarily the ‘cause’
of the death. There are many factors to be
considered. Also, it is worth considering
that many, many more deaths are caused by
the use of percussive trauma, gunshot, and
even capsicum sprays, tasers, etc.

Some more recent (and in-depth)
studies have shone a much more positive
light on the use of VNR techniques in law
enforcement. For example, the National
Study On Neck Restraint in Policing —
prepared for the Canadian Police Research
Centre — had this hnding:

“This report Ends that, while no
restraint methodology is completely
risk-free, there is not medical reason to
routinely expect grievous bodily harm or
death following the correct application of
the vascular neck restraint in the general
population by professional police officers
with standardised training and technique. ”

I believe that VNR techniques have
their place in any self-defence arsenal,
whether it’s for civilians or law enforcement
professionals. They are highly effective
and undoubtedly a better option than

lethal force. Many professionals believe
them to be a better option than the use
of percussive force, too, but I’ll leave
that question to be answered by each
of our readers according to his or her
own reasoning. In my opinion, though,
particularly in real-life violent encounters,
chokes are extremely effective and work
on people irrespective of size and levels
of motivation.

Needless to say, putting people into
a state of unconsciousness should be
viewed as a potentially risky thing to do,
so such techniques need to be taught by
professionals, and should not be applied
by people who have not undergone the
relevant training. Obviously, the ‘sleeper
hold’ should not be used as a party trick.

A recent video of a backyard hght in
Brazil in which two teenage boys labelled
‘MMA fans’ saw one choke another to
death with a side-headlock — a common
schoolyard technique that is easy to escape
from with a little training — is a sobering
reminder of this. Not to mention, had
the boy applying the choke known what
the ultimate effect of his choke would be,
and had he been educated just enough
to be able to recognise the signs of his
opponent’s imminent demise even during
their heated altercation, things may have
ended differently.

With these techniques now out there
in the public domain, getting an education
in how to defend against them and
apply them safely has never been more
important. ■

SCAN PAGE
TO READ THE
CANADIAN
POLICE STUDY
ON CHOKES

g

. . .does nothing to assist the choke
and in fact the angle of Will's arm
prevents him driving in deeper to
apply pressure.

38 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

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40 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

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Kung fu master Hai Yang teaches in Montreal, Canada, where he has lived
for 11 years, but he was born and raised in a Chinese city that is a hotbed
of the country's traditional martial arts — Tianjin. It was there that he
received an education in the Chinese combat systems that would be hard
to match. As well as studying Chinese medicine, qi gong and meditation.
Master Yang has spent the better part of his life immersed in the 'internal'
kung fu styles: taiji (tai chi), bagua and Xing Yi. In part one of this in-depth
interview taken from author Jonathan Bluestein's book. Research of
Martial Arts.Yang gives an insight into his history, the culture of these
systems and the most important lessons he's learned.

INTERVIEW BY JONATHAN BLUESTEIN

a

My first
teacher was my
grandfather.

I started
learning from
him at about
seven years old.

aster Yang, both Ma
Hong and your uncle
were students of
Chen Zhaokui, son
of Chen Fa'ke. Both father
and son were very famous,
and their lines of Chen taiji
are the most popular to this
day. I wasn't aware that you
were Ma Hong's student...

Yes. Ma Hong gave me a
really detailed instruction on
the postures and movements.

He taught me how to break
each movement into smaller
ones and see all the applications
and possibilities. He had the
idea that the Chen style form
should be standardised in the
way that it is taught. There is a
difference between Ma Hong’s
form and my uncle’s form. My
uncle focused on fa fin
5t], explosive power] while Ma
Hong focused on structure.

How would you compare
their forms to Feng
Zhiqiang's form?

Feng Zhiqiang created his
new form. The [older] Chen
Fa’ke form, which I call the
Chen Zhaokui form [Zhaokui
was Fake’s son] is more focused
on the centre — on the internal
turning of the Dan Tian area,
which is called ‘Dan Tian Nei
Zhuan’ in Chinese. The Dan
Tian twists a lot, and
this relates to

many qin-na
[joint-
lock]

applications. Hongjunsheng
loved his art form a lot.

While he learned directly
from Chen Fa’ke, he modihed
his teacher’s form according
to his understandings. His
form became very ‘compact’,
and I believe it was greatly
influenced from Chen Xin’s
book on taiji quan. I have
researched that book and
reached the conclusion that
Hong’s school was probably
very much influenced by it. I
also think that Hong had just
a little bit of background in
Wu style taiji, and he might
have implemented a few ideas
from that style. I learned that
[Hong Junsheng’s] style, it’s
very combat-oriented, with
a lot of small turnings. Hong
contributed a lot to the Chen
taiji community.

Who were your teachers,
besides those we've already
mentioned? What made
each of them unique to
you, and what are the most
important lessons that you
learned from each of them?

My first teacher was my
grandfather (Yang Qinglin,

. I started learning from him
at about seven years old. There
was no asking ‘why’ I had to
train — they [my family] told
me, and I had to do it. It was a
tradition that in each generation
[of our family] , one person will
be chosen to practise martial
arts. My grandfather was the
chosen one in the family in
his generation. Then later, in
my father’s generation, my
father didn’t do anything
about martial arts training.
He couldn’t even memorise

the first movements of the taiji
form. So my uncle became
the martial arts practitioner
of their generation. Then
in my generation, I became
the only one in the family
to practise martial arts. My
grandfather later became old,
so he introduced me to many
of his [martial arts] friends.

My father knew many martial
artists. In Tianjin, where I come
from, up to about 30 years ago,
maybe even five-to-10 years
ago, martial arts were extremely
popular. You could find a
great teacher at any place [in
the city] . So I started learning
Xing Yi from my grandfather’s
friends, one by one. After them,
I learned Xing Yi from three
other important teachers.

My grandfather learned from
a friend of Li Cunyi
Li was a very prominent and
influential teacher in the history
of Xing Yi Quan, whose name
was Zhang Zhaodong

who later went on
to invent his own art, Xing
Yi-bagua Palm, which is a
mixture of the two arts in its
name. Both Li and Zhang were
considered my grandfather’s
teachers, but he didn’t study
much from Li. Rather, he
worked for Li, in Li’s bodyguard
escort services company [at the
time, many martial arts groups
in China were making a living
from providing bodyguard
services] . In this line of work,
those men would risk their
lives daily in real life-and-death
confrontations using the martial
arts they knew.

Another teacher of mine was
Hu Jingling (Sflillll?). He was

Iwww.blitznnag.net1 * 41

Martial arts
are a cultural
phenomenon.

They cannot
survive
without the
cultural
context.

59

also a student of Li Cunyi’s
student. I learned from him
for a total of 1.5 years, maybe
some more. I’d go to his home
to practise in summertime.

My grandfather was old and
wouldn’t show a lot of fa j'ln;
Master Hu, though, was in his
fifties, I think, and his force
was still very powerful and
impressive. My grandfather
sent me to him to learn how to
use Xing Yi’s fa jin correctly. I
also learned bagua from him.

Another student of Li
Cunyi I learned from was Fu
Shoubo I learned a

little bit of Xing Yi from him,
and mostly bagua. He also
taught me the Quan Pu
i®, Xing Yi’s classic of martial
theory] in depth. Qonathan: It’s

interesting to note that master
Yang Hai can be considered a
direct gongfu grand-student of
Li Cunyi, and it is possible that
he is the last remaining person
on Earth who can claim such
a title.]

I learned the Xue Dian
branch of Xing Yi from two
different people. The first one
was Zhang Songlin

who was a friend of my
grandfather. He was taught
Xue’s style of Xiang Xing Shu
[an art Xue created from Xing
Yi Quan and other arts] by
Xue Dian himself. The second
teacher was Liu Zhihe
^n). I also learned this style
from other people. Zhang
Songlin taught me most of
what I know from that style. I

cannot tell for how long these
people have been Xue Dian’s
students, as I couldn’t ask at
that time [Jonathan: it wasn’t
appropriate in the context of
their relationship] .

I was taught many things
from my teachers beyond
martial arts. All of them
demonstrated the importance
of choosing a good lifestyle.
Also, they all kept practising
every day, even when they
were very old. They did what
they did with passion. They
embodied what they believed
in, socially and philosophically
and would teach me lessons
and stories about these
beliefs. They demonstrated
for me a very good image
of what martial arts are. It
was in how they stood, sat,
talked, moved — that was the
traditional practice.

So you are suggesting
it is very important to
understand and learn not
only how the master does
the martial arts, but also
how he handles himself in
everyday life?

Yes, yes.

Do you keep this
tradition with your
students? Do you have
students that hang around
with you and see how you
do things in everyday life?

I mostly learned from
family members. When my
grandfather taught me, it was
a very gradual process. He
wouldn’t be as rough and tough
as other teachers. So when I
teach my students, I combine
the two approaches. Most of
the time I’d treat them like how
my grandfather treated and
taught me — I’ll take it easy
on them. At the same time. I’d
put an emphasis on teaching
them how to be serious and
honest; how to do what they’re
doing with passion, and avoid
diluting the art. But they don’t
have to make this their way of
doing things outside of martial
arts. The day that they decide
they don’t like it anymore, they
can stop. I want my student to
learn as much in great details
as possible, to learn as much as

42 • |www.blitznnag.nTt|

they can. Too many people keep
secrets. I don’t want to keep
any secrets. Another important
thing is for the students to learn
how to use what they know
from martial arts to deal with
difficult situations in their lives.
1, for example, had to deal with
moving to a new country and
surviving a new environment.

1 believe that martial arts have
helped me a lot with that.

So 1 hope that these kinds of
things can be carried on to the
next generation.

You grew up in Tianjin.
This city housed countless
famous masters of the
martial arts. Tell us about
growing up in such a city
where martial arts had
probably been a part of
your daily life. My grand-
teacher Zhou lives in
Tianjin, and I know that
even in modern times,
when you go to the parks
you can see many martial
artists. I think people in
the West often have a
hard time understanding
or visualising such a
childhood. Say in the US,
people grow up playing
baseball or basketball, but
in Tianjin many kids grew
up playing martial arts...

Even up until the time I
was a teenager, martial arts
were indeed very popular. The
district I lived in. He Dong

East-River district), was
very famous for its Xing Yi, and
many people there practised
martial arts. Eike other cultures
have their jazz festivals,
music festivals and such, in
the summertime in Tianjin in
our district, we had a martial
arts festival in the evenings,
for three-to-four months. We
didn’t have air conditioning;
we barely had fans. So people
didn’t want to stay inside
[their homes], and got out
to practise their martial arts,
opera, etc. This was also a way
to make life easier and more
entertaining. People practised
martial arts as their pastime,
and it was a social thing. Older
people practised as well. They
didn’t do it to become some

legend, a historian, or for
some blog or magazine. It was
a very interesting aspect in
Chinese culture.

I’ve seen videos from
the early 20th century,
of Chinese martial artists
practising their arts publicly
in US neighbourhoods and
festivals. They seemed to
have imported this cultural
heritage from China and to
have kept it alive at that time.
Nowadays you don’t see these
things anymore, as Chinese
immigrants and families have
become a more integral part of
American culture. . .

Globalisation! (Yang laughs
with a tint of sadness) People
got no life. 1 can’t tell whether
this is good or bad. . . Chinese
culture is very special. It used
to be that the Chinese would
get into a different culture,
but eventually their original
Chinese culture would stand
ouP^. Times are different now.
Chinese culture is now leaning
towards Western culture,
modern culture. Many people
in China are aware of this.

They try to modify their ways
accordingly. Eor example,
when you teach martial
arts nowadays, you have to
use modern ways to teach
them. Still, martial arts are a
cultural phenomenon. They
cannot survive without the
cultural context.

[Jonathan: This brings to
mind the various peoples who
conquered parts of China
throughout history, and held
it for several decades or more.
A strange thing happened to
these nations. While being
the conquerors, these peoples,
such as the Manchurians
and Mongols, adopted much
of the native Han Chinese
culture, often replacing their
own cultural practices and
even their writing systems
with their Han Chinese
equivalents. Also notable are
the Japanese and other nations,
who adopted large parts of the
Chinese writing system, and
the Okinawans, whose martial
arts were directly affected
by Chinese martial arts. So

I believe master Yang was
speaking of the unique cultural
impact that the Han Chinese
culture had on whichever
culture it came in contact with,
in the relatively more distant
past. In political science, this
innate cultural technique is
called ‘soft power’ — the power
a nation can employ in non-
violent means, unrelated to
warfare, to expand its influence
and promote its goals.]

Many people study
martial arts without
learning the cultural
context. Would you argue
that it is important to, for
example, study Chinese in
order to fully understand
Chinese martial arts?

Yes, I think so. I do
encourage it. Just as when
studying or teaching [where
I live] you have to study
English — to make yourself
understandable, and understand
the other culture deeply. People
who learn Chinese gongfu
should at least know a little bit
[of Chinese]. What is Chinese

language? What does it mean?
Its social meanings, its values.

Eor instance, in Chinese we
say: “Gang rou xiangji” (H'J

— literally ‘Hard and
soft coexist.’ This is a cultural
thing. If you don’t understand
the cultural context, you may
not understand this, and you
may ask: ‘How can you do
the hard and soft together?’ It
wouldn’t make sense. In China,
that kind of hard (gang) doesn’t
mean very hard, stiff, rigid. It
means more like ‘strong’. Rou is
not exactly ‘soft’, but more like
‘flexible’. So the proverb actually
means strong, but still flexible;
flexible, and still soft inside.

If you cannot understand this
context, you can never reach
this level [with your body] . So
this is just one example.

Another example is with
wu de — martial morals. Many
people take rituals as martial
morals. A salutation is just a
ritual! A martial moral is one’s
belief! To know how to handle
others, to treat other people
fairly, and to be honest in your

Iwww.blitznnag.netl * 43

teaching, to know what you
know and don’t know, to not
exaggerate what you know. . .
these are the basic principles. To
not injure others, to let people
know you’re good without
harming them. . . It’s not about
how you stand, or the uniform
you wear. It’s about the right
context of Chinese culture.

Can you tell us about
other interesting martial
arts teachers you've met
in Tianjin?

There were the Huo family.
Among them was Huo Wenxue
(SX^). His grandfather
was the bodyguard of the last
Chinese emperor. He started
teaching martial arts using
Western methodologies within
the Chinese military police.

There was Ma Jie (^^). He
learned from Meng Xiaofeng
who was famous for
his Wudang swordplay. Later
on, he went to the Wudang
Mountains and re-taught the
monks there the Wudang
swordplay, which they have
since lost.

There was Zhao Daoxin
who was a Xing Yi
practitioner] . He participated
in the famous 1929 all-China
hghting competition in
Nanjing [Jonathan: It’s a very
famous event. It barely had
any rules, and no gloves. The
competition was stopped when
13 competitors remained after
too many people got seriously
injured, and some even died.
The organisers were concerned
that the remaining 13 would
literally kill each other off. ]

Zhao Daoxin had many new
ideas on how to train students
in modern times. He advocated
that one shouldn’t just practise
the forms in the traditional
manner, and change them
in accordance to modern
times and scenarios. He made
comparisons between what he
considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ways
to train.

Can you tell us a bit
about your gongfu grand-
teacher, Zhang Zhaodong?

To my grandfather, Zhang
Zhaodong was a hero. He
respected him a lot, and

often said he was very strong,
and knew how to teach. In
‘knowing how to teach’, my
grandfather meant that Zhang
knew how to suit the teachings
to the qualities and capabilities
of each student. He knew how
to promote the martial arts. He
knew how to combine bagua
and Xing Yi together to make a
new style. And he knew how to
combine a hard force together
with a subtle force.

Many people thought these
masters only practised [martial
arts], and didn’t take care of
[hnancial] business. It’s not
true. All the good masters
took care of their business
very seriously. Otherwise, they
wouldn’t have been so famous.
They knew how to promote
themselves and their students.
They knew how to use the
students to their advantage. For
example, Zhang Zhaodong had

a student by the name of Jiang
Rongqiao Jiang did

not practise as well and was
not as good as Zhang’s other
students. He wasn’t the best, he
reached an ordinary level, but
Jiang was a very good author.

So Zhang worked with Jiang,
and asked Jiang to write for
him. This was a smart move.
Financially, Zhang also did very
well. He had a student whose
name was Qiu Zhihe
who gave him a lot of money
for his teachings. Zhang also
knew how to connect himself
with celebrities, rich people,
businessmen and politicians.
Another person who knew
(how to do) this very well was
Xue Dian. When Xue Dian
wrote his book, the former
president of China even wrote
some calligraphy for him!

These people knew how to do
business.

Research of
Martial Arts

loJ

Shifu Jonathan Bluestein (LL.B)
is a martial arts teacher and
author hailing from Israel. He
is the founder of the Tianjin
Martial Arts Academy, where he
teaches the traditional Chinese
martial arts of Xing Yi Quan and
Pigua Zhang. More details of his
book, Research of Martial Arts,
as well as 72 free sample pages

from it, can be found at

www.researchofmartialarts.com

For mo re on Master Yan^ see

his website internalstyle.com

44 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

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Martial arts and the psychology of mental toughness

It's generally accepted that martial arts training 'makes us better' both physically and mentally
— better able to defend ourselves, to perform athletic tasks, to adapt, to strategise and,
most importantly, to cope with adversity. But what do the psychological sciences
make of this assumption? And are some arts better than others for the purpose
of strengthening the mind and maintaining mental health? Former military
psychologist and 'resilience training' specialist Melissa Harries has the answers.

STORY BY MELISSA HARRIES

O ne of the most common
questions I am asked as
a psychologist is, ‘What
makes you resilient?’
Resilience is a hot topic at
the moment, with everyone
from school teachers to
CEOs interested in helping
their community to be
mentally tough.

Resilience is most commonly
dehned as the ability to bounce
back from adversity In order
to be resilient, there are two
necessary conditions: adversity
and coping with adversity. To
be resilient you need to suffer,
and learn how to cope with
that suffering. So, while part
of resilience is enduring the
challenges that life throws at
us, the other part is developing
coping strategies, skills and

resources that enable us to
hght through when the going
gets tough.

Physical htness has long
been considered a critical
component of mental health.

In fact, the power of exercise
is so strong that researchers
have shown that it’s as effective
as antidepressants at treating
depression. In the last 20 years,
martial arts has received special
attention from psychological
scientists who have investigated
the impact of martial arts on a
range of mental health aspects
including self-conhdence,
aggression, depression, anxiety
and classroom conduct.
Research has also explored how
martial arts participation
can improve wellbeing in
different ways for youths.

adults and the elderly, and the
results are surprising.

I CAN, IF I BELIEVE
I CAN

Youth martial arts
programs often claim
to build self-esteem
and self-conhdence in
their participants.

This seems like
a reasonable
claim, as

students are . . .

required to , ■'/

46 • www.blitznnag.net

demonstrate discipline and self-
control in order to master new
skills. Certainly, there is strong
support from social scientists
that participation in martial
arts improves personality traits
like self-esteem and conhdence;
however, not all martial arts
programs are created equal.

Firstly, better results are
achieved when the instructional
style is traditional as opposed
to modern. Traditional
training methods include
using meditative or mindful
awareness, encouraging self-
control and respect, and
emphasising kata training,
while modern instruction tends
to focus only on teaching the
physical aspects.

Traditional instruction
assists children and youths to
develop mental coping skills
known as self-regulation.
Individuals who self-regulate
their emotions are able to
manage the impact of unhelpful
thoughts and feelings on their
behaviour. This allows students
to focus on the task at hand
in spite of how they feel,
a key component
of resilience.

This skill
is useful
in many

contexts. The way you
manage nervousness about an
upcoming bout with a strong
opponent is similar to paying
attention in class when it’s
sunny outside. The ability to
let go of your thinking and
focus on a specihc task predicts
success in the classroom, in
sporting competitions and, later
in life, success at work.

Secondly, competition
counts. The performance of
participants in competition
seems to improve self-esteem,
self-conhdence and mood.
Participants who are successful,
in particular, get the most
beneht. Everyone loves a win
but there is also beneht to those
who compete and lose.

Competition, win or lose,
is a challenge that requires the
mobilisation of coping skills to
manage. Consequently, regular
participation in contests can
improve resilience regardless of
the outcome.

Like any other health
strategy, moderation is key. An
over-focus on competing and
dehning self-worth by wins
and losses is likely to undo
any positive effects that may
be gained.

Thirdly, experience makes a
difference. Though somewhat

'everal styles of
l^rtial arts have
been rigorously
tested for their
ability to improve
mental health

99

www.blitznnag.net • 47

CHARLIE SURIANO

related to competitiveness,
better results have been found
for advanced versus beginner
students. As students develop
a sense of mastery, confidence
improves. This has been found
to gradually increase over
time (months and years) and
much of the research before
the mid-1990s established this
as fact. Charles Richman and
H Rehberg, as early as 1986,
demonstrated that self-esteem
could be improved with two
months of training, while others
found that longer was necessary
(several years) .

Sometimes the benehts can
be seen immediately. When
classes are instructed as self-
contained and stand-alone

a

lessons, self-conhdence also
improves within the session, if
only for a few days after. For
example, Torunn Bodin and
Egil Martinsen, mental health
clinicians in Norway, compared
the impact of riding a stationary
bike to martial arts lessons with
initially low though increasing
self-efhcacy (the belief that
you can complete a task).
Participants were required to
learn three specihc moves that
had increasing difficulty versus
sitting on a spin bike for 45
minutes. Participants reported
a higher level of conhdence
during and immediately after
the martial arts sessions;
however, these changes were
not sustained several days later.

BUT DO FIGHT SPORTS
LEAD TO STREET FIGHTS?

Close attention has been paid
to understanding whether
participating in martial arts
causes problems. Do martial
artists demonstrate more
aggression or hostility?
Jikkemien Vertonghen and
Marc Theeboom from Vrije
University, Brussels, conducted
a review of 16 individual
studies that investigated the
relationship between aggression
and martial arts. A sum total of
2,500 individuals participated
and Vertonghen and Theeboom
concluded that youth who
participate in martial arts
demonstrate lower levels of
aggression and hostility, and
more sociable attitudes towards
violence. There are a couple
of exceptions to this, where
participation has been related
to increases in aggression;
however, some believe that this
is not reflective of the sport,
but rather of the socioeconomic
status from which participants
come. This may also reflect
a broader culture of being
excessively macho, which
some gyms and training

establishments foster.

Earlier this
year, Vertonghen
and Theeboom,
along with Korean
taekwondo expert
Willy Pieter, also
considered the
difference between
‘hard’ martial arts like
kickboxing, which are
characterised by full contact,
and ‘soft’ martial arts like
aikido, which are characterised
by creating harmony between
body and mind. Interestingly,
no consistent relationship
has been found between
the type of martial art
practised and incidences
of aggression.

While the media
may point to combat
sports as a contributing
factor to public antisocial
behaviour (king hitting,
for instance), this is
just not supported by
scientihc research.

Individuals who self-regulate their
emotions are able to manage the
impact of unhelpful thoughts and
feelings on their behaviour.

99

1

The 'moving
meditation' of tai chi
has proven positive
for mental health

MARTIAL ARTS & ADULT
MENTAL HEALTH

Anxiety and depression are
the most common mental
disorders in Australia, with
one in hve adults in the last
12 months experiencing
these illnesses. Not only have
psychologists recognised the
therapeutic benehts of martial
arts, but they also recognise
the parallels between the
goals and strategies of martial
arts and psychotherapy.

Several styles of martial arts
have been rigorously tested
for their ability to improve
mental health le.g. by
Nebojsa Toskovic from Emory
University] , with taekwondo
and tai chi receiving individual
attention as particularly useful
methods of improving mood.

Tai chi and many forms
of taekwondo specihcally
integrate ‘mindfulness’
meditation and exercise,
combining two powerful forms
of mental health treatment.
Mindfulness is increasingly
becoming a mainstream form
of therapy, mostly appropriated
from Eastern philosophies.

Mindfulness is the ability
to pay attention, on purpose
and without judgment to one’s
experiences, whether they be
positive or negative. It’s also
the ability to not fuse with
your thoughts but to be aware
of your thinking while still
maintaining contact with the
present moment.

The ability to maintain
present-moment awareness
is cultivated in both
psychotherapy and martial arts,
but martial arts also provide
a physical platform to learn
these skills. Meditation can be
a tough sell with some clients
who see the strategy as too
‘new-age hippy’ to learn, but
these clients can be channelled
into more practical methods of
instruction as an alternative,
though still an adjunct
to counselling.

When taekwondo is
delivered in self-contained
lessons that are delivered as
though a ‘one off, it can reduce
symptoms of depression and

48 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

Taekwondo has been the subject
of several studies into martial
arts and the mind

anxiety immediately. These
effects don’t last long (two or
three days), but the results
are much stronger than when
participants do a physical
activity that doesn’t require
learning a new skill (again like
riding a stationary bike) .

One of the mechanisms
that are thought to underpin
the power of martial arts is
the sense of mastery and self-
efhcacy or belief that one can
complete a task. This can be
achieved immediately although
it needs to be repeated
regularly for long-term benehts.

This illustrates one of
the principles required for
physical exercise to effectively
treat depression — it must be
regular. As a general rule of
thumb, three times per week
every week for 12 weeks is a
minimum. Moderate exercise
conducted at this ratio is as
effective as antidepressants
at treating depression, with
a much lower relapse rate
than taking medication. This
also helps to explain why
students of martial arts who
are advanced in their discipline
show better outcomes
than newbies.

In addition to learning
practical applications of
mindfulness, tai chi is
particularly useful for older
adults as an adjunct to the
treatment of depression. The
use of diaphragmatic and
controlled breathing has

parallels to therapy, although
the labels may differ.

Another group that has
gained signihcant beneht
from martial arts are victims
of physical and sexual assault
who undergo self-defence
training. While not strictly a
martial art, (typically) women
are trained in defensive skills
in how to resist if faced with
a physical threat. Training
is of short duration (usually
from two to 16 weeks) and
participants generally show

quick improvements in their
assertiveness and self-esteem,
as well as reducing anxiety
and fear. These effects are not
permanent, lasting up to six
months, which again speaks to
the importance of continued
participation regardless of the
style of martial art.

DOES MARTIAL ARTS
EQUAL RESILIENCE?

No one thing will make a
person resilient, as it is a
combination of genetics, life

experience, coping skills and
current physical and social
resources. Resilient people,
however, have conhdence in
their ability to cope as well
as the ability to manage their
emotions while still pursuing
their (difficult) goals. These are
attributes that psychological
scientists have found the
martial arts develop, while also
assisting to reduce depression
and anxiety. The key is to be
consistent with your training.

To use martial arts to improve
mood, make it regular and
choose instruction styles that
make a point of fostering mind/
body awareness. And like any
skill, mental resilience takes
practice to be perfect, so give it
the time and effort it deserves.

Melissa Harries is the
principal psychologist of
Mindset Abilities, a Sydney-
based psychology practice. She
has nine years’ experience as
a mental health practitioner,
including working with soldiers
in training and on deployment.
She is an expert trainer in
resilience and also provides
treatment to individuals with
mental disorders. ■

|www.blitzmag.net| * 49

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ON THE MAT

TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP withtheodoretsanidis

Defence against an axe-kick;

Goju-Ryu Karate

THEODORE TSANIDIS

As a young man in the late 1960s, Theodore
Tsanidis was very energetic and loved sports.
After many years of training in all kinds,
he decided to stick with karate, "as it had
everything the human body needed to stay fit
and healthy". Tsanidis ultimately joined the IKO
Goju Ryu Karate group and after a few years of
training he was fortunate enough to train with
the head master of IKO Goju Ryu, SoShihan
Gonnohyoue Yamamoto. SoShihan Yamamoto
was so impressed with Tsanidis' karate
skills that he endorsed him to open his own
dojos. Now, after 40 years of training, Shihan
Tsanidis holds an 8th Dan rank and has taught
thousands of students the IKO's traditional
Japanese budo karate with a focus on self-
improvement, fulfilment and personal growth.

As the attacker begins to open out
his lead foot, indicating a kick off the
rear leg, Tsanidis brings his hands up
ready to defend...

...and pivots to the outside of the
attacker as the kick is launched...

. . .then in one move, Tsanidis
blocks the rising kick with
one hand and delivers a
punch to the attacker's ribs
with the other...

O Q A opinion and

Li yjLfx experience, what are the most
important elements of self-defence?

After years of drills, conditioning and training,
when it comes to real-world life or death
situations, there are a handful of elements that
will determine what state you leave in.

Situational Alertness: Unfortunately, with
constant media bombardment these days, more
and more people are questioning their 'gut
feeling'. But it's that intuition that triggers our
receptors and alerts us that something is not
right when we walk down a dark street or enter
a lift with someone suspicious. You need to pay
attention to those primal instincts and react
accordingly.

Awareness of your surroundings: If it comes to
the point that you need to defend yourself, ensure
you are aware of your surroundings. Know your
environment; look for an exit strategy; be aware
of all your attackers and the angles they are
coming from; and use any available weapons of
opportunity to get yourself out of trouble.

Self-control: When defending yourself, control
your emotions and adrenaline. Adrenaline affects
people differently, but fear will always kick in, no
matter how proficient a martial artist you are. You
need to control and understand how this affects
you and learn to channel it effectively.

Real-world situations are always messy and
uncertain. Training in a discipline that implements
reality-based scenarios in its curriculum will put
you in a better position to come out of it. Chance
favours the prepared body and mind.

...then Tsanidis
delivers a final
hammer-punch
to the side of
the attacker's
head.

...immediately
followed by a strike to
the trachea, using the
same hand he used to
block the kick.

Tsanidis then follows
this up with a stomp
through the back of the
attacker's knee, taking
him off balance while
Tsanidis continues
to grab the attacker
around the neck.

52 • | www.blitznnag.n5]

^RATE-^

^RATE-^

Over 40 years of Martial Arts experience
Commitment to traditional Budo
Conditioning the Mind, Body and Spirit for the modern warrior

iiiiww.ikogo|uniukarate.com.au | ikogo|unnikarate@giiiaiLGom

ON THE MAT

TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP with Nicholas conduit

Defence against an axe-kick;

Hapkido

IMAGES BY ELEANOR CONDUIT - |w\/\/W.ELEANORCONDUIT.COM|

NICHOLAS CONDUIT

Master Nicholas Conduit discovered hapkido in 1999
after years of studying various martial arts, including
kickboxing, karate and taekwondo. In 2009, he travelled
to South Korea for rigorous training with Grandmaster
Young Sil Chang and as a result began corresponding
with Grandmaster Gottfried Roser, founder of the
International Hapkiyoosool Federation. In early 2010,
Conduit established the Conduit Hapkido Centre in
south-west Melbourne and soon after was invited to
the US to co-instruct an international seminar with
Grandmaster Roser. It was during this time that Conduit
was awarded his master's rank and International
Instructor's Certificate. In 2013, Conduit founded the TRI
Martial Arts Friendship Seminar series, which brings
together three different martial arts styles in a full-day
open seminar, and later that year Grandmaster Roser
named Conduit as the president of the International
Hapkiyoosool Federation, Australian Headquarters.

"I have been working in the security industry and
with the Department of Justice for 12 years and have
found that my hapkido training has been an invaluable
tool in maintaining my safety when faced with serious
physical threats," says Conduit.

Nicholas, in your experience, what are the
most important elements of self-defence?

I believe the most important element of self-defence is
having a thorough understanding of the art you're training
in. Why do the techniques work, how do they work and
what will they do to your attacker? Understanding the
pressure that you will encounter in a self-defence situation
will determine how you react to the situation. In hapkido
we regularly pressure-test our students so that they learn
howto deal with the psychological and physiological
stresses that we are faced with as a defender.

Another vital element of self-defence is harmony.
Learning to train for the intended purpose that is the art
of hapkido, you must train to defend yourself and so must
practise to effectively harmonise with the intention of
your attacker. When you are faced with a violent attack,
you must be able to match their aggressive intention with
your defensive intention. Learning this skill takes time
and understanding, and supports the need for pressure-
testing students so that they learn how to harmonise
their defence with the attack they are faced with. A third
element is having the right attitude to your self-defence.
This is important as it will keep you on a true path of
growth, understanding, discipline and honour. Hapkido is
a self-defence art and so we train to develop embedded
understanding of the techniques, so they will then
become second nature and harmony will follow without
forced thinking.

As his opponent comes in. Master Conduit
(right) assumes a 'closed stance' with left foot
forward, maintaining good posture and lowering
his centre.

. . .and he moves his hips in the same direction,
extending his 'ki centre' beyond his opponent. . .

NOTE: All movements must be conducted in a continuous,
flowing manner, harmonising your body movement with
your attacker's. All photographs have been taken in real
time and have not been slowed or staged.

54 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^

As the attacker steps in and launches
his leg up. Conduit slides his left foot
forward roughly 45 degrees off the line of
attack, harmonising with the speed of the
attacker, and steps in...

At the same time Conduit is controlling
his foe's near arm at the elbow to
neutralise a possible secondary attack,
and, in one circular motion, he pulls
down on it as his other
hand sweeps up...

%

...and allowing the
attacker to fall while
Conduit maintains his own
balance and freedom of
movement.

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kicks, step-sparring, self-defence and the eight
taeguk poomsae.

HAPKIDO

A comprehensive
system from beginner
to advanced
by Philippe Pinerd

TAEKWONDO

Kicks & Fight
Techniques
with HOANG Nghi

TAEKWONDO

POOMSE

Kicks & Fight Techniques
with Roger Piarulli

Buy 2 DVDs and get a 5% Discount
Buy 3-5 DVDs and get a 10% Discount
Buy 6 or more DVDs and get a 15% Discount

TO ORDER CALL [031957^ S'^BD

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CONDUIT

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CENTRE

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Australian Headquarters

0402 232 717

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Sophisticated Self Defence

Like no other Hapkido School in Australia

ON THE MAT

TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP WITH PHON MARTDEE

Defence against an axe-kick;

Muay Thai

Martdee
leans back
to evade the
attacker's
head-
hunting right
axe-kick...

Martdee stands ready with his chin
low and guard high as the attacker
approaches.

...then lunges
in while the
kick is in mid-
air and quickly
takes control
of the leg over
his shoulder,
breaking the
kick's motion.

Martdee secures the attacker's right
arm and, with the leg still under control,
drives a knee-strike into the groin...

PHON MARTDEE

Phon Martdee has been training fighters for 43
years and has trained more than 30 muay Thai
champions, and has promoted over 60 events.
He was born in Saraburi (near the ancient
Thai capital Ayutthaya, about 80 km north of
Bangkok) and began learning the basics of
muay Thai at eight years old from his uncle, a
former champion.

"Whenever there was a festival in our
province, and they advertised for locals to
compete, I would rush to weigh in and put
myself forward to compete," says Martdee.
Throughout college, studying a BA in Phys.

Ed, he competed in muay Thai and was also
chosen to represent Thailand in the Under-
21s national soccer team. From then on he
worked in Bangkok for six years as a physical
education teacher.

Martdee moved to Perth, Western Australia
in 1985 and in 1988 the Sporting Authority of
Thailand suggested he open an authentic
muay Thai school, to advance the sport of Thai
boxing Down Under.

Since opening his first school in 1989,
Martdee has been promoting muay Thai and its
culture. He has promoted fight shows at Conrad
Jupiters Casino (Gold Coast), Burswood Dome
and Challenge Stadium, and the Perth series
WBC Muay Thai Battle Colossal.

(Pictured with Phon is Pamorn Martdee,
an Australian welterweight champion and
silver medallist at the Muay Thai World
Championships.)

Do A opinion and experience,

LJ.&/iwhat are the most important elements
of self-defence?

I think confidence goes a long way to keeping
you safe in a self-defence situation — just like
how it helps you in the ring. When you exude
confidence, you will less likely be targeted by
attackers on the streets. Another important
element is knowing the differences between the
sporting side of combat and the self-defence
aspect. I've trained many fighters who have
excelled in the ring, but I make sure I stress the
importance of knowing the right techniques to
use on the street. I feel martial artists can get
into a lot of trouble of the street if they are too
focused on the sport side. There are no rules or
regulations keeping you safe on the street, so you
have to prepare accordingly.

...and lifts
the attacker's
kicking leg
high and
forwards to
throw him off
balance.

Martdee comes through with a head-kick to
finish as the attacker goes down...

...then steps in with a low kick to
the attacker's supporting leg...

56 • Iwww.blitzmag.n^l

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volume series, to be pubiished soon.

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MMA 101

Pad Work for Mixed Martial Arts

WITH DENIS KELLY AND PHIL LAI

n this technique we will look at a useful way to
incorporate boxing or muayThai pad work specifically
for MMA. It is common for trainers who come from a
striking background to train their fighters in the traditional
boxing or muay Thai format, neglecting to take into account

Pad holder [Lai] tries to close the distance and get
into clinch range for a takedown.

the differences and variety of attacks and defences that can
occur in an MMA match. This sequence gives an example of
some of the ways that traditional pad work can be combined
with grappling techniques to make it more useful and
suitable for Mixed Martial Arts.

Fighter [Kelly] gets a single neck-tie grip with his left hand while
punching with his right into the right pad.

Kelly maintains the neck-tie grip while delivering a
right uppercut onto the right pad.

Fie then pummels in for a right under-hook
while stepping forward with his right foot. . .

. . .then proceeds to push Lai back to the fence
and pins him in place with his knee and head
position.

58 • |www.blitznnag.n^

Kelly then brings his left hand to the top of the Lai’s head
and pushes down while delivering knee strikes with the
left knee.

Kelly then reaches for Lai’s right ankle with his left hand to
complete an ankle-pick takedown.

Finally, Kelly kneels across Lai’s right leg, keeping him pinned
while continuing to punch with his left hand. ■

ENJOY YOUR COMPLIMENTARY
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE

COURTESY OF FIGHT! AUSTRALIA

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ON THE MAT

DRILL IT WITH RICARDO VARGAS

3

r ,

•

Intercepting Like Lee

This Wing Chun-inspired Jeet Kune Do flow drill used by Bruce Lee encourages interception
and simultaneous counter-striking using subtle movement.

THE EXPERT

Colombian-born Sifu Ricardo
Vargas is a second-generation
student of Bruce Lee's Jeet
Kune Do and holds full
instructor rank in the art.

Sifu Vargas was personally
trained and certified as a
professional instructor by two
of Bruce Lee's original JKD
students, Grandmaster Richard
S Bustillo and the late Sifu
Jerry Poteet. Sifu Vargas was
also certified in the Golden
Dragon Self-defense System
by its founder, Grandmaster
Sebastian Nazario. In 2013,

Sifu Vargas was awarded with
the United States Martial Arts
Hall of Fame 'Outstanding
Martial Artist' award under
the International Martial Arts
Council of America. He also
holds a bachelor degree in
philosophy and a masters
degree in theology, and has
significant experience working
in education at university levels
as a lecturer and a director of
different leadership programs
for students. Sifu Vargas has
been running his own club in
Adelaide, South Australia, for
the last three years.

THE DRILL

To introduce this trapping drill,

I have to base my approach
to Bruce Lee's art on the
explanation about the origins of
Jeet Kune Do by the late Sifu
Ted Wong: "Although Bruce
Lee disliked the word style for
describing Jeet Kune Do, there
was a distinctive character to
his training way which was
unlike any other martial art.

In order to preserve this art.

Jeet Kune Do has to become
somewhat of a style in the
sense of being standardised
and systematised, because
unless some kind of structure
is imposed on it, it will not
survive in its original forms.
Bruce did not have any plans
on how to preserve Jeet Kune
Do, so it is the responsibility
of his elder students to offer
the present and the future
generations the experience of
the original training, formulas,
principles and progressions
of Jeet Kune Do. A teacher
should provide the foundation
for the student, then offer his
own interpretation and assist
the student to find his own
best way."

It is not my intention to
teach anything as a pattern, but
to provide a training experience
for you to try out and develop
some fundamentals of the
Jeet Kune Do trapping method.

You can practise this drill
in a very contact-oriented way
using striking pads, gloves,
body armour, head and mouth
gear for full-contact sparring.

Bruce Lee found that staying
outside the opponent's effective
range eliminated the threat of
being hit, yet he could still hit
the opponent. This drill is all
about that principle, and begins
with slipping your partner's
straight punch to the head
while simultaneously striking
his ribs on the lower line.

You then follow with a
combination, redirecting
then trapping, and each time
punching simultaneously with
the opposite hand. The last
strike of the combo — the

straight right — sees your
partner begin the same
sequence by parrying your fist
and counter-striking low.

You can practise this drill
from the left guard in order
to develop attacking and
defensive abilities on both
sides. You can focus the
practice on the speed to do
the transition from one hand
position to the other, and
you can also focus on the
power development of both
attacks and defence structure.
Remember Bruce Lee's
philosophy of "using no-way as
way and having no-limitation as
limitation" — in this case, you
can practise the drill with one
or both knees on the floor or

sit down on the floor or chairs.
One person can lie down on
the floor facing the ceiling and
the partner on top... There
are unlimited possibilities to
push not only your body but
your mind and the borders of
your comfort zone in order to
achieve your goals.

THE RESULT

This drill teaches you to
exercise the principle of
staying outside the opponent's
effective range while still being
able to hit your opponent — a
key skill of Bruce Lee's. It is
also about learning just how
little movement is needed to

evade and to intercept, as well
as teaching you to attack and
defend simultaneously. This
drill also assists in teaching
us to use contact (feeling)
in combination with vision to
accurately judge distance in
order to respond effectively.

As a non-classical martial art,
Jeet Kune Do is based on skill,
not on how many techniques,
arts or forms you know. The
key question is how do we
develop skills? The answer
is by repetition, by practising
the drills '10 thousand times'.
The first stage of the skill
development is the muscle
memory — that spontaneous
ability to react and respond
without thinking. This is good at

the beginning, but not enough,
because it carries a big risk: a
significant lack of awareness.

In modern management,
intelligence is described as
the ability to make the right
decision and to take the right
action in the least amount of
time. This is the kind of ability
you can develop at a physical
level by practising drills such as
this one. Of course, just as the
skills drilled here can transfer to
different situations and stages
of combat, the principles also
transfer to different dimensions
of our lives. It is all about
applying our martial art's way to
our way of living.

Bruce Lee found that staying outside the
opponent’s effective range eliminated the threat of
being hit, yet he could still hit the opponent.

60 • | www.blitznnag.n51

JKD DRILL: EVADE & INTERCEPT

Daniel (left)
and Ricardo
(right) face
each other in
guard, right
hands forward.

...and Ricardo
slips slightly
to his left (to
the outside
of Daniel),
parrying with
his rear hand
as he returns
fire with a low
hit to the ribs...

Daniel enters with a jab from his right hand...

Ricardo then slaps Daniel's right forearm with his left
palm to create an opening for his right straight punch. . .

Daniel then
continues raising
his right forearm
in contact with
Ricardo's as he
launches a left
cross punch...

...then continues raising his right forearm outside
Daniel's right arm as he launches a left cross punch.
(Note: This second action can be performed as a
first and vice versa, so this drill can be practised
as a progression of the two actions or as a single
response against the first attack.)

. . .and thus the practitioners swap roles, as Daniel
responds by slipping slightly to his left (to the
outside of Ricardo) and parrying with the left hand
while simultaneously returning fire with a low
punch to Ricardo's ribs.

...then he slaps Ricardo's right forearm
with his left palm to make room for his
right straight punch...

GET IN THE MOST
POWERFUL SHAPE OF
YOUR LIFE & AVOID
INJURY

156

BODYWEIGHT

STRENGTH

TRAINING

Anatomy

fPfTCC' "REP-

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ON THE MAT

THE BURN WITH MAH BEECROFT

Why Aren’t I Stronger?

If you are training but not getting stronger, there are a few strength shortcuts you
need to get there faster...

I 've made a few mistakes
and observed many made by
others over the last 15 years
working with athletes, martial
artists and MM A practitioners
at varying levels. Along the way
I've picked up some universal
truths about strength training
that I think may help you if
you're struggling or have hit
a plateau.

When you first start strength
training, it's easy to get amazing
gains in the first year or two.

You don't have to do a lot other
than pick up some heavy stuff
in whatever way possible,
especially if you are young and
bulletproof. But as your training
experience grows and you
get older, this most certainly
changes. Most people inevitably
taper off and plateau, and/or get
injured. Some then quit, but the
smart ones get a coach. If we
all continued to get the same
gains year in and year out like
we did in the first year or two
of strength training, we'd all
be superhuman. The reality is
that we don't. The real magic in
strength training is seeing minor
improvements year after year.

So, here are my strength
shortcuts and reasons why you
may not be getting stronger.

1 RECOVERY

Yep, it's number one.

Why? Because it's the most
underrated and sorely lacking
facet in almost everyone's
programming. Here is the
simple formula: Stimulus
+ Recovery = Adaptation.
Recovery is as important as the
actual lifts or stimulus in the
training program itself.

Recovery can come through
various means, the top two

being sleep and nutrition.

Basic? Yes. But 'basic' doesn't
mean 'easy' — not by a long
shot. These fundamentals have
the most profound benefit and
yet many people don't do them
well at all.

Let's start with sleep.

Getting adequate and restful
sleep, and regular napping,
can be one of the keys to
recovering from training
sessions. It sounds obvious but
many of us float around on six
or fewer hours sleep per night,
and then wonder why we're
cranky, have low energy and
struggle with mental acuity.
When we sleep we buffer
cortisol levels (stress) and
testosterone/growth hormones
are released, along with a lot
of other helpful hormones such
as leptin, ghrelin and insulin,
which help us recover. We
need to be aiming for more
sleep as a priority.

Now, if sleep is king,
nutrition is queen. I see an
awful lot of people spending
ridiculous amounts on
supplementation and the next
magic potion, pill, powder
or stimulant without nailing
their basic nutritional needs
first. Supplements are an
addition to sound nutrition, not ■
instead of. We won't address
nutritional needs specifically
for strength here, but your best
bet is to speak to a dietician
or nutritionist who has a sound
background getting results
with strength- and power-
based athletes.

I can't stress the importance
of getting these two very basic
— but not easy — facets of
your training correct.

Other recovery methods

include keeping your day-to-
day stress levels low, having
'de-load' or rest weeks, hot
and cold contrast baths and
showers, yoga and flexibility/
mobility work, breathing
practice, foam rolling and
soft tissue work/massage,
and physical therapies (e.g.

osteopathy) as necessary
can all play a significant part
in the body's recovery from
the demands of a challenging
training program. Being able
to recover more efficiently and
effectively allows us to train
more often and at a higher
intensity. This, then, is the key

62 • |www.blitznnag.n^

ISTOCK

to great strength. It's not how
much you can do, it's how
much you can recover from.

OVERTRAINING

The old adage 'more isn't
better, better is better' comes
to mind here. Chasing fatigue,
exhaustion or soreness and
training countless days on
end without rest, if your goal
is strength, is never the way
to go. If you look at the way
Olympic lifters, power athletes
and gymnasts train, they chase
performance, not fatigue. The
end goal of a session should
not be bragging rights as to
how hard the session kicked
your arse. If you have an
incessant need to do 'cardio'
and 'feel the burn', and think
that doing high-rep, light-weight
metabolic conditioning-style
sessions or marathon sessions
in the gym will get you strong,
it won't. It will, however, get
you weak and burnt out. Often,
low reps, heavy weight, long
rest periods and lots of sets are
the key to getting strong. If this
doesn't sound like what you
are doing, you probably aren't
training for strength.

One of the easiest ways
to determine whether you are
overtraining is measuring your
resting heart rate first thing
of a morning and seeing if it
is elevated more than usual.

If it is, you are either ill or
overtraining and not recovering
sufficiently from your training.
Another way to determine
whether you're overtraining
is via the law of diminishing
returns. While it may be overly
simplistic to say the reason
why your numbers aren't
getting better is because you
are overtraining, since there
are so many other variables,

I have found this is often the
case, especially for those who
are stubborn or obsessive with
their training. They are often
just doing too much. And yet
good strength coaches are
always trying to find ways to
eliminate exercises rather than
add more to a program, so it

CJ

p

allows the trainee to spend
more time on their art or sport.

3 PROGRAMMING

Choose the right program.

I see a lot of beginner lifters
pick a complex and advanced
program from off the internet
or out of the latest muscle and
fitness magazine, thinking it's
for them. Yet the number of
clients who have initially told
me they are not a novice or
beginner lifter because they
have been lifting for a year or
two — and yet have terrible
technique, poor movement
and mobility, average numbers
and/or chronic injuries — is
amazing. This often comes
down to ego. You need to
honestly assess yourself or,
better still, have an experienced
coach do that for you.

Programs need to individualised
and specific.

FORM

Form, alignment, mobility,
movement. Form matters. Not
mastering your form on your
basic lifts shows you don't care
enough to get them right and
ensures you stay a novice lifter.
Poor form not only leads to

reduced performance, it leads
to injury. Using fancy exercises
and loading protocols when
you aren't ready for them is
also a dead giveaway; the best
beginners have their foundation
down. (Note: you're unlikely to
learn how to do Olympic lifts
or kettlebell exercises properly
from the average personal
trainer — in fact, the industry
is packed with underqualified
trainers displaying dangerous
form, so find someone who is
legitimately certified in the type
of training you're after.)

5 GOALS

Don't aim for conflicting
goals concurrently. If you
are training for a triathlon or
marathon and want to do the
Beast Tamer challenge (for
men this is a pull-up, pistol and
press with a 48-kg kettlebell;
for women it's the Iron Maiden
challenge, the same with a
24-kg bell) and get bigger at
the same time, quite simply,
it's not going to happen. Goals
most certainly can vary and
be cycled but many people
have very unrealistic and
conflicting goals and thus try
a shotgun approach. By trying

to achieve everything at the
same time, you won't actually
achieve anything specifically
at a high level. And variety
for variety's sake? Sampling
a little bit of this and that? As
with the martial arts, often
it's the mediocre who insist
on freedom from structure
and float from program
to program and exercise
to exercise without really
applying themselves diligently
to anything. In truth, there
is plenty of freedom with
structure and there is so much
magic in the mundane. If you
need constant entertainment
or external validation then there
are some underlying issues
there you need to address. You
must earn what you get, and
you can't get anything if always
changing programs or trying
to overlap those that aren't
designed to work together.

6 PATIENCE

Progress requires patience.
Impatience at not achieving
goals and a lack of consistency
is a big issue I see with many
practitioners. Many people
don't pay due diligence to
following progressions and

I www.blitznnag.net] * 63

THE BURN WITH MAH BEECROFT

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- STOCKING All MAJOR OOANOS -

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are not consistent with their
training program for long
enough to see the fruits of
their labour. This often screams
of self-entitlement and a desire
for instant gratification. Less
BS and more sweat is often
the secret to success here. Not
sticking to prescribed exercise
progressions and moving
along quickly may have you
thinking that you are going well
initially, but not putting those
sessions and that training in
the 'strength bank' for later will
have you wishing that you had
when your progress stalls.

DISCOMFORT

Naturally we gravitate to the
things we are good at because
it makes us feel good, but
therein lies the challenge. We
need to feel uncomfortable to
grow and we need to work on
our weaknesses to excel and
to be well rounded. But this is
inversely true for always doing

the stuff that you hate as well.
While I admire this attitude
of relentlessly attacking the
things you don't enjoy, that
make you uncomfortable or
that you really suck at, there
has to be balance. Always
doing things you dislike sucks
the fun out of things, and
there must be a certain level of
enjoyment to balance out the
uncomfortable stuff and keep
you coming back.

So there you have it.

While we haven't addressed
other important issues
such as genetics, training
implements, 'training age'
versus chronological age,
exercise prescription, neural
loading and other factors that
can hinder progress, if you
address these seven points you
will be smashing through your
plateaus and making gains like
never before.

Strength to you. ■

Matt Beecroft is an RKC Teann Leader and Functional Movement
System-certified strength coach with over 13 years experience
as a trainer. He's an Expert Level krav maga instructor, nationally
accredited boxing coach and national fitness presenter He also
coaches amateur and professional muay Thai fighters. He can be

contacted via his website vvww.realitysdc.com.au

or

ISTOCK

T

WUSHU

Drunken

Sword

DEMO

QIGONG TAICHI

ister

with All- China
Champion Tang Laiwei

Former All- China Champion and
member of the original Beijing Wushu
Team alongside action movie StarJet Li

'^'sAVEr ' TO ORDER, CALL (03) 9574 8460 OR VISIT WWW.BLITZMAG.NET

When most martial artists
think of stick-fighting, we think
of the Filipino fighting arts or
'FMA'; and when we think of
FMA, we think of sticks. The
sticks became popular as a
more palatable replacement
for the Philippines' traditional
long-bladed weapons, like the
kris and kampilan, when FMA
was brought to the West by the
likes of Professor Remy Presas,
but they have now become
the essence of the art to many.
Here, Kyoshi MarcToussaint
— Australia's second-highest
ranking eskrimador in the Doce
Pares style, 5th Degree Black-
belt, who also has a 30-year
history in freestyle karate and
kickboxing with Bob Jones' Zen
Do Kai/BJMA — gives an insight
into stick-fighting training and
real-world application.

STORY BY BEN STONE WITH INSTRUCTION
BY MARCTOUSSAINT | IMAGES BY BOON
MARK SOUPHANH

12AH6LES r

m

oce Pares eskrima
theory breaks down
the possible angles
of attack into 12,
like the points on a
clock in relation to the
body — with the strikes
themselves mostly circular
in trajectory delivered
forehand, backhand or
from overhead, but also
including linear thrusts
and jabs. This numbering
of strikes from one to 12
is uniform all around the
world for the purpose of
safety in training — as
once they have learned the
angles, students drilling
won’t misunderstand
where an attack is coming
from. And according to
Kyoshi Marc Toussaint,
Victorian state head
instructor for both Bob
Jones Corporation AEK
(Amis Eskrima Kali) and
Doce Pares Australia, “It
has also been shown that
the students learn faster
when they have a set of

m

numbers to follow”

The eskrima student’s
main focus is on learning
to ‘read’ which of these
angles an attack is
coming from in order to
defend it and exploit the
corresponding opening
that the strike may
create. However, this is
done with the possibility
of multiple successive
incoming attacks in, be
they delivered with a
weapon (stick, blade or
an improvised weapon)
or empty hands, so fast
footwork is paramount
to the student being able
to move so they defend
and attack simultaneously.
When it comes to
weapons, speed and agility
are especially vital.

“Eootwork is another
core element that helps
you move [with] a fluid
momentum, allowing
you to deal with any
attack and to avoid the
[opponent’s] attack,”

Toussaint explains. He
says this is the primary
difference between
eskrima and ‘hard’ styles of
martial arts such as some
Japanese karate systems,
which focus on blocking
hard and returning hre
with powerful strikes
that require very strong
grounding of the feet in
deeper stances than may
be practical if a blade is
in play.

“Doce Pares eskrima
is a unique system that
deals with fast-moving
weapons of all types but
mainly sticks and daggers,
and for that reason it
requires the practitioner to
be ‘soft’,” says Toussaint.
“By remaining calm and
relaxed when you move
out of the line of attack
and being fluid — using
body mechanics — you
give yourself the best

• SCAN PAGE TO
LEARN ABOUT
DOCE PARES'
^ ANGLES OF
^ ATTACK

The first strike of Doce Pares' 12 Angles of Attack
is an approximately horizontal, circular strike
aimed at the side of the head/temple.

Strike two also takes a horizontal and circular
trajectory, but with the stick slightly flatter and arm
lower, and impacts the opponent's shoulder.

The third strike sees the hand turned over and the
stick thrusted forward, so its end stabs into the
abdomen or ribs.

The stick is then retracted and whipped around in
a circular trajectory, travelling downward on the
diagonal to strike the knee.

The stick is then brought back up as it is retracted
and again the hand turns over to fire a straight,
slightly downward thrust into the opponent's chest.

The stick is then whipped around on the right side
into an overhead strike down the centre. The same
six angles are then repeated on the backhand side.

I WWW. blitznnag.net] * 67

As the attacker draws his stick back,
indicating a swinging strike, Toussaint
moves forward to the inside (right). . .

. . .to get inside the weapon's arc and
away from its power as he covers
with a strike to the hand/arm. . .

. . .then immediately brings his free
hand through to catch or cover as he
cocks his stick back...

. . .Toussaint follows through with his
strike and whips the stick around to
come back with a strike to the head.

Still controlling his foe's hand,
Toussaint follows through past the
head and brings his elbow over...

. . .to use as leverage, striking into the
attacker's wrist. He then turns back
toward his foe, stick loaded...

. . .and effect a disarm with the
follow-through (if the attacker has not
already relinquished his weapon).

Continuing his motion, Toussaint then
brings his stick back across the side
of his opponent's neck...

. . .and captures the other end of it
using the inside of his left elbow.
Pulling the attacker in close...

position to take control of
the attacker and/or move the
attacker to a better position
for you to control them and
disarm them.”

Doce Pares is akin to most
Filipino hghting systems but
different from most other
Eastern hghting arts in that
it teaches one way to use all
weapons, including the limbs,
rather than one method for
sticks, another for blades and a
third for the hsts and arms —
“The only thing that changes
is the distance or position to
the person you are defending
against,” Toussaint explains.
And while the stick is generally
seen as a long-range weapon,
in Doce Pares practice it’s also
used at medium and close
range, with the art featuring

more than 200 lock variations
to effect control up close.

The Melbourne-based but
widely travelled eskrimador
explains that when beginning
Doce Pares eskrima, the student
starts working with a single
stick, then moves to double-
stick work later. Toussaint’s
school. All Active Martial Arts,
in Epping, Victoria, follows
the same syllabus as all Doce
Pares schools: seven different
types of strikes are taught from
the beginning, including slash,
thrust, snap and butt (the stick’s
end) striking using fanning,
curving and circular motions,
both forehand and backhand.

“When the student has
an understanding of how the
weapons work and how they
may be attacked with a weapon.

it is easy to teach the students
how to defend against each
type of weapon combination
through blocking or parrying
the weapon,” says Toussaint.
The theory is that to be able to
defend against a weapon, we
must hrst know how to use it.
The main weapon Doce Pares
practitioners start training with
is a bamboo 30-cm-long stick
called a baton. With this they
must also learn Doce Pares’
unique method of ‘twirling’ the
stick so if the attacker is able to
block the student’s attack, they
are able to move their weapon
around the blocking arm and
still hit the target — the same
principle applied when training
with a dagger.

Doce Pares eskrima always
works both arms for different

. . .to deliver a counter-strike to his
opponent's exposed ribs. Maintaining
control on the attacker's arm. . .

. . .to strike the attacker across the
back while turning his foe's elbow
upward to pressure the shoulder. . .

...Toussaint then cranks his foe's
head sideways to close off his left
carotid artery against the stick.

functions simultaneously —
thus also working both sides of
the brain together. “This ability
is the same as if you played the
piano: the left hand and the
right hand play together but are
doing their own thing. So too in
Doce Pares eskrima, our hands
move at the same time but are
independent of each other,”
Toussaint explains. “So the non-
weapon hand or the checking
hand plays a big part of this
system. Hitting or cutting with
speed, one must have a very
good defence and this system
has it. Defence is worked at the
same time or just in front of the
hitting side.”

With Doce Pares eskrima
being a relatively technical
weapons system, experience
in an empty-hand martial art

68 • |www.blitznnag.n^

beforehand will help with some
of the fundamentals such as
good balance and body control.
However, Toussaint, who has
been training since 1982 and is
today ranked 6th Dan in Zen
Do Kai freestyle karate and
4th Degree trainer with the
World Kickboxing Association,
does not consider empty-hand
combat training a prerequisite
for stick hghting. “The truth is,
having an open mind with no
expectations or beliefs makes
learning any weapon system
easy; most people who have no
martial art study beforehand
do very well in this system,”
he reasons. “When trying Doce
Pares eskrima for the hrst
time, my tip is to not over- try
to understand how to do the
techniques but to just let it
happen. It is dehnitely a martial
arts system that is mastered
over many years of training.”

MODES OF TRAINING

Doce Pares eskrima employs a
vast number of training drills to
help develop skill from basic to
master level. Of these, it starts
with the abecedario, known as

As the attacker brings his blade over
and steps into a backhand stab,
Toussaint circles left (outside). . .

. . .and finds the wrist, folding his hand
over the top of his opponent's to grip
the thumb pad.

the ‘ABC’ of the art. In this drill,
one person delivers a strike
(from the one-to-12 number
system mentioned earlier) to
their training partner, who
defends against the attack and
counter-strikes with up to four
strikes and at the same time
controls the attacker’s weapon
and/or arm. If the attacker
strikes high (face or head) , the
defender will go low with a
counter-strike, then high and
back to a low strike. So the core
element for this drill is to be
able to counter-attack from any
angle and to attack the attacker’s
strike before they complete it.
Importantly, it also teaches not
to wait for the attacker to stop
and/or withdraw their weapon
before you enter.

A further drill that develops
speed is tapi-tapi. This works
on one person holding out
a weapon like a stick, so the
other person can work on their
checking hand and weapon
hand working together to
keep control of the attacker’s
weapon arm. “We start with a
four-count [drill] and as the
student gets better, you end up

. . .and turns to strike the knife-arm
with his stick, keeping it vertical to
cover all possible angles of entry.

with over 34 counts, and then
to free-flow tapi-tapi, hitting
sticks — single and double,”
explains Toussaint. Eskrimadors
then advance to doing drills
with stick and dagger (known
as espada y daga) as well as the
use of a staff and empty-hand
or mano-mano drills, and these
against any weapons (sticks,
dagger, stick and dagger, etc.).
“All the drills can be used
with or without a weapon in
hand and this helps, having
the same way of doing things,”
he says. With principles in
place to guide universal basic
movements and footwork, the
nature of the weapon, short or
long, has little bearing on the
response other than the obvious
tactical tweaks required if it is
bladed rather than blunt.

Of course, a change in
mindset, as well as strategy, is
required when dealing with
sticks or similar weapons as
opposed to empty-hand attacks.
The 5th Dan Doce Pares master
has his own theories on the
topic: “As we all see in boxing,
kickboxing and the likes of
MMA, even the very best

hghters are unable to stop all
the hits that come their way —
but we know that it will take
a number of hits or a lucky
punch to take them off their
feet. So, with an empty-handed
attack, you can have a mindset
that a punch, kick or any other
physical attack will hurt and as
long as you do something (get
out of range) or condition your
body to accept a number of hits,
you should be able to defend
yourself and disengage from the
attack, and hopefully you have
not been hurt too badly during
the process. But when it comes
to dealing with any weapon
attack, you only have one
opportunity to deal with it.

“Defending against weapon
attacks — stick, bat, blade or
improvised weapon — requires
the highest level of defensive
skills, and the mindset that
there is a high risk that you
will get hit, cut and/or worse,”
Toussaint continues. “People
need to be realistic and realise
that this is not the movies,
and unlike
the hero of
the movie

As he follows through
with his stick, Toussaint
contacts the knife-arm
with his outer forearm
(for safety)...

^ i SCAN PAGE
/, „ \ TO SEE VIDEO

INSTRUCTION
OF THIS

W TECHNIQUE

Wrenching the attacker's arm up and
back, Toussaint kicks out his foe's
near leg and tilts him backward...

...bringing the attacker to the floor.
Maintaining a hold on the knife-hand
and blocking the arm with his knee. . .

...Toussaint can then deliver a series
of finishing strikes to his downed
opponent.

|www. blitznnag.net] * 69

As the attacker swings, Toussaint
moves forward to the inside (right),
checking the arm with his palm. . .

. . .then immediately brings his free
hand through to catch or cover as
he cocks his fist back...

. . .to deliver a counter-strike to his
opponent's exposed ribs. Maintaining
control on the attacker's arm. . .

. . .Toussaint follows through with
his strike and whips his hand back
around to palm-strike the head.

Still controlling his foe's hand,
Toussaint then brings his elbow over
to use as a lever...

. . . then turns to scoop his arm
under and twist his foe's elbow
upward to pressure the shoulder.

70 •[ www.bl

Dropping the stick, Toussaint brings
his left hand over the attacker's
shoulderto meet his right hand...

...and clamps his
forearm in under the
attacker's jaw line,
against the carotid
artery, to bring him
under control.

who can take multiple strikes,
slashes or stabs and still survive,
in reality, weapons maim and
kill. So develop the mindset
to be able to stay calm and in
control of yourself, and have
the skill set to deal with fast-
moving attacks from weapons.
Understand that you must do
something before the weapon
gets to hit or cuts you.”

As with many combat
systems concerned with
conditioning mind and body
in complementary fashion,
Filipino martial arts have
turned to sport as a means of
pressure-testing their weaponry
skills and wits. Although stick-
sparring — with plenty of
protective gear and sometimes
padded sticks — makes up only
a small part of the total system,
it is now an international
full-contact sport with world
championships every two years,
run by the World Eskrima Kali
Amis Federation (WEKAF).
“Full-contact stick-hghting
sounds like you’re just going
at it with the other person,
but it’s more than that,” says
Toussaint, who has much
experience trading blows from
which to draw. “The aim of
these tournaments is to earn
points for any successful strikes
that hit the opponent’s helmet
or body, while defending
yourself from the strikes of your
opponent or trying to disarm
the weapon from the other
competitor. The competitors
wear large helmets with a metal
face shield, and padding to
their body, arms and hands.
Some of the best hghters can
hit their target up to six times
per second — at this speed
your htness must be up there
with the best, like kickboxing
or MM A.”

Among the seniors in the
art, sometimes the training can
be even tougher. Dean Carter,
a Doce Pares instructor from
Bunbury Western Australia,
learnt this when training with
Toussaint in Cebu, Philippines.
“While training for our Black-
belt certihcation in Cebu, the
group of us drove to Badian
Cebu, the Doce Pares waterfront

retreat,” Carter recalls. “There
the participants of the congress
had a feast, followed by training
on the beach. It was there I did
‘semi-controlled’ sparring with
then-4th Dan Marc Toussaint. . .
While playing around and
doing some controlled sparring,
Marc accidently buried a stick
in the side of my head. I saw
him take a quick look, and,
noting there was no blood,
he said, ‘You gotta move your
head, mate!’ He’s not the type to
kiss it and make it better!”

It can be brutal and bruising,
but rest assured, says Toussaint,
when it comes to competition,
the rules and protective gear
keep competitors safe.

STICKING TO REALITY

While sticks may have
originally been introduced as
a safe substitute for the ‘real
thing’ — that being a blade
or sword-like weapon — in
training, stick-hghting skills are
nevertheless very applicable to
self-defence, especially if facing
a belligerent with a blade.

“The fact that we specihcally
train with a weapon as our
primary means of attack and
defence allows us to train
for realistic attacks, whether
[the offenders] are armed
with a knife or not. Doce
Pares eskrima teaches you to
understand how a realistic
attack can be delivered;
we train to deal with the
frenzied attack, which is more
realistic than a single attack
with a knife as taught but
other martial arts systems,”
says Toussaint. “The further
advantage developed through
training in Doce Pares eskrima
is the ability and skill to be
able to move with good body
angling and footwork to cut
off the attack, and make more
room to control the next
attack that may come from
the attacker. And, redirect it
to where you are waiting for
it, thus controlling the attack
successfully and putting
yourself in a better position to
be able to defend yourself.”

Although carrying eskrima
sticks around with you is not

legal in Australia, Toussaint is
quick to assure the potential
eskrimadors out there that
there is no shortage of
modern, improvised (and thus
legal) tools or weapons to
which eskrima skills can be
transferred for self-defence.

“Dealing with street self-
defence, facing an attack with
or without a weapon, from one
person or two or more, you can
pick up anything that could be
used to help defend that attack;
for example, a rolled-up mag
or newspaper, or a water bottle,
as well as a walking stick. . .
anything that you can hold
in your hand could be used
to defend yourself,” says the
stick-hghter, “remembering,
however, that you only have
to do what is needed to stop
the attack, and save yourself
or family and friends — any
more than that. . .well, you
have overstepped the line.

The skills learned are to be
able to control the attacker or
attackers without having to go
to extremes.” ■

As the strike comes in,
Toussaint turns inside
its arc and blocks with
a strike to the attacker's
inside forearm...

. . .then continues forward
to strike the face,
switching hands to keep
the attacker's weapon-
hand covered.

. . .then moves up to latch onto the
arm with his covering hand as he
strikes to the eye or temple. . .

Toussaint then
continues moving in
as he traps his foe's
arms and thrusts his
improvised weapon
into the upper ribs.

...following through in a circular
motion to come back with a stunning
strike to the neck. ■

CALL (KYOSHI] MARC TOUSSAINT ON: 0412620264

6TH DEGREE BUCK BELT

A guide to the|
best martial!
arts apps|

"Hack away at the
unessential," Bruce Lee
famously advised in regards
to bettering oneself — and
as martial artists embrace
the digital age, pinpointing
the 'unessentials' becomes
an increasingly difficult
task. With thousands of
martial arts mobile phone
and tablet applications
now available, it's hard to
tell whether you're getting
quality or just another
run-of-the-mill McDojo
download. So what are
your best options? Here,
Blitz takes a look at some
of the more useful and
user-friendly martial arts
apps currently on the
market to help you make
an informed decision before
hitting the 'download'
button.

STORY BY BOON MARK SOUPHANH

T ry searching for the top martial
arts apps on the App Store or
Google Play and you’re going to
be in for a rough time. Regardless
of which style you search for, you’re
going to encounter dozens of different
apps — some good, some great, and
some downright dreadful. To make
things easier, we’ve singled out some
of the most popular martial apps and
tested them ourselves. Hopefully, with
our help, you can hnd the app that’s
best for your needs.

MMA TIMER LITE/PRO BY SKH APPS

Type: Training aid

Price: Free-$1.29/iOS devices

MMA Timer represents a simple app,
executed perfectly. Arguably the best
professional app timer for martial arts
training currently available, it allows you to
connect your device to a dock or speakers
to create a loud end-of-round bell or siren.
The timer can be used for other sports and
circuit training — not just martial arts and
combat sports.

With timers a staple of just about any
martial arts or htness gym, the app can
be used in place of a professional gym
timer, many of which cost well over $100.
MMA Timer Pro is fully customisable with
four one-touch presets — Amateur (3x3
minutes). Pro (3x5), Champion (5x5)

LEARN WING CHUN BY VTWORKZ

Type: Instructional
Price: Free/Android devices

While the general feel and appearance of
Learn Wing Chun may come off as a little
daggy the app dehnitely makes up for its
lack of sleekness by giving the user both
quality and quantity.

The app is unique in that it includes
instruction from sifus of four different
schools: Izzo Tactical Combat Martial Arts,
Master Wong Academy, Windy City Wing
Chun and Wing Tsun Kung Fu Sweden
— a great way to get a taste of different
approaches to the art.

While all the schools include great

and World Champion (3x10). Add a rest
duration timer and warning alert and you’ve
got yourself a pretty complete timing app.

We found that the iPad was the better
device to use with the app as it can easily be
seen from across the room.

breakdowns of techniques as part of
their tabs in the app, we found the
Master Wong approach the most useful.
With all the techniques broken down
into 50 different structured lessons.
Master Wong guides you through
everything from basic leg exercises to
advanced punch and kick combinations.
Master Wong’s instructing style is
infectious and animated, and he delves
into the techniques in great detail.

If you’re looking for a quality Wing
Chun app — especially if you’re a
beginner — Learn Wing Chun should
be at the top of your list. Being that it is
completely free is a huge bonus!

o

ROY BEAN ACADEMY (RDA) BJ J BY ROY DEAN ACADEMY

Type: Instructional

Price: Free-$3L99/iOS & Android devices

The task of sifting through the hundreds
of available Brazilian jiu-jitsu apps was a
daunting one, as practitioners of the arte
suave have arguably embraced the digital
age more fully than have many of their
traditional martial art counterparts.

Renowned Black-belt Roy Dean’s
RDA BJJ is a great place to start if you’re
looking for clear, concise instruction as
well as insight into BJJ philosophy. After

enjoying a solid competitive career. Dean
forged a reputation as one of the art’s best
instructors following the release of his Belt
Requirements DVD series.

The app’s interface is easy to navigate
and follows essentially the same teaching
principles as his DVD instructionals.
Including techniques aimed at practitioners
of all belt levels. Dean’s calm demeanour
and the articulate explanations of his
techniques and philosophies make this app
one of best BJJ apps on the market, without
a doubt.

www.blitzmag.net] * 73

WTF TAEKWONDO TV BY
DARTFISH.TV

Type: Video library

Price: Free/iOS & Android devices

In a nutshell, the WTF
Taekwondo TV app gives you
access to all videos on the official
taekwondo TV channel of the
World Taekwondo Federation
(WTF) — that’s over 8000
bouts from over 30 top-rated
international tournaments
including the World/Continental
Qualihcation Tournament for
the 2012 London Olympic
Games, World Championships,
European Championships, World
Junior Championships, and a
number of different international
Taekwondo Opens.

If you enjoy watching
competitive taekwondo, the
app is hands down the most
comprehensive hght library
available on mobile or tablet.

The interface is neat and easy to
navigate, allowing you to hnd
specihc matches easily. However,
our favourite feature of the app
has got to be the inclusion of data
indexing in the videos. This saves
you from searching through entire
bouts to hnd key moments such
as scoring moves, warnings and
highlights — a real time-saver if
you’re only keen on sifting through
hghts rather than watching the
entire thing.

New competitions are added
every month, so you don’t need to
worry about exhausting the library
or missing more recent bouts. This
app is a no-brainer for anyone into
their taekwondo — whether you’re
a competitor, coach or enthusiast,
you can always beneht from seeing
the world’s best go at it.

MARTIAL ARTS GYMBRAND APRS BY POLSETEC SOLOTIONS

Type: Business

Price: Free/iOS & Android devices

As the business sector embraces the digital
age, there’s no reason why martial arts school
owners can’t cash in on the benehts. This is
where a quality app for your school can assist
dramatically in increasing referrals as well as
engaging existing members.

“All the research is highlighting that
people are increasingly using mobile devices
to interact with businesses and to search for
the information they want,” says Neil Earey
from PulseTec.

“Traditional websites are not keeping pace
with customer expectations nor offering the
user experience they expect. This is where
the use of apps is becoming the deferred and
defacto method of engaging with businesses.”

A GymBrand app lets you market your
gym in a new way, differentiating your school
from your competition. The app gives you
the ability to engage members with push
notihcations — alerts sent out in a similar
way to text messages to the user who has
downloaded the app. This gives all users
instant notice of special deals or important
updates such as changes to the training
schedules, events and news.

While your school may already have
social media sites, integrating them into your
smartphone app can be easily done to make

accessing the social media pages even easier
— simply with one touch on the screen.
Merchandise and products from your school
can also be sold with the in-app shop tab.

The feature allows you to take payments via
Paypal or cash, connect to a receipt printer
and specify delivery and pick-up options. You
can even set options such as size, colour and
add-on sales. Very cool!

PulseTec will design your GymBrand
app in consultation with you, using your
school’s colours, fonts, images and overall
look and feel. Once your app is available for
free download, you can update your app’s
content or appearance whenever you like
using the powerful content management
system (CMS).

For more inf ormation regarding

GymBrand, visit www.gymbrand.com.au

KARATE EDGE SPARRING BY MOTION EDGE ACADEMY PTY LTD

Type: Instructional
Price: Free/iOS devices

Designed to train
fundamental and advanced
techniques. Karate Edge
Sparring is an intuitive
teaching aid aimed at
the karate competitor.

Based around the use
of 3D motion capture
visualisation, users will be guided through all
kinds of karate techniques with the help of a
neat 3D model.

I know what you’re thinking — can a
3D model accurately replicate the same
movements as a human being? After dabbling
with Karate Edge, I would have to say the
answer is ‘yes’. In many ways, using the 3D
model is in fact more convenient to use than
watching a traditional video instructional.

This is achieved via the app’s handy rewind
and fast-forward function, which allows you
to replay, freeze frame, slow down or speed up
the techniques as many times as you like.

Another feature that sets the app apart
from a standard video instructional is the
ability to rotate the 3D model a full 360
degrees — you can also tilt the camera
view 45 degrees upward. A helpful compass

feature also works to accurately tell where the
model’s centreline is.

The insight into the techniques extends
deeper than simply the 3D model, with
each technique accompanied by a detailed
explanation. Accessed via the ‘i’ button.

Karate Edge breaks down the mechanics as
well as the subtle details, whether it’s a basic
footwork drill or a jumping front-kick.

Instructional apps often include a
decent range of techniques but suffer from
a lack of intuitiveness. The guys at Motion
Edge Academy have dehnitely nailed it by
developing a quality karate app with in-depth
instruction combined with detailed and
intuitive user controls. Suitable for beginners
up to advanced practitioners. Karate Edge is
without a doubt one of the handiest training
aids for mobile phone and tablet users.

74

www.blitznnag.net

For more information please visit
www.haidonggumdo.com.au

sckorea@ bigpond.net.au

hlAID®MG^MDQ>A UST.R ALIA

One, Haidong Gumdo”

National President

Master Jung II Oh 043354501 31
QLD/NZ Pres. 04035852889
NSW Pres. 0414925780
ACT Pres. 0430436437
VIC Pres. 0433666222
TAS Pres. 0412440528

Learn it

Love it

Teach it

W w

World Mulympics 2015, Pyeong Chang, South Korea

SK

This DVD deals with more
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no frills, just plain truth on
defensive knife attacks.

DVD $64.95 RRP

This DVD contains 10 all new
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New Shredder developments
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DVD: $99.95 RRP

Covers static knife & gun
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principles, cut-avoidance,
psychology of armed attackers,
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DVD $49.95 RRP

Covers Senshido's 5 principles
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verbal defusing strategies, the
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DVD $49.95 RRP

This DVD deals with more
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knife attacks.

DVD $64.95 RRP

NOT another grappling tape.
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DVD $54.95 RRP

100 pages. One of the best
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violence, overkill mentality,
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BOOK $39.95 RRP

Over 1 20 pages. For women,
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BOOK $29.95 RRP

MOBILE SOLUTION

FOR MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOLS

YOU?

I • 1 -li-I

On-THE-CO

Clofis attvndoTK V

9

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r .j. 'N

Molcin^ notes

/

Students pcomotion

SdNool mcFiogefTfent

&

ANALYTICS 8 STATISTICS
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
STUDENTS MANAGEMENT
CLASS ATTENDANCE
RANKS a PROMOTION
EVENTS MANAGEMENT
PERSONAL NOTES
NOTIFICATIONS 8 REMINDERS

nEXTSELT

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NEXTBELT BY ROMAN ZAYTSEV

Type: Business/Management
Price: $4.99/iOS &

Android devices

Nextbelt is an app designed
with the martial arts school
owner in mind. The majority
of school owners are yet
to fully embrace powerful
tools like mobile gadgets and
applications, and this is where
Nextbelt comes in — it aims
to reduce the time you spend
managing the business and
give you more time to coach
your students.

Based around a simple user-
friendly interface, Nextbelt
gives the user the ability to
track and monitor various
aspects of their school, from
student attendance to hnances.
Findings are shown via logical
data and club statistics making
it easy to see where your
business needs to improve —
dehnitely one of best aspects
of the app. There’s a lot of
software out there with a hefty
price tag and membership fees,
however, at $4.99, Nextbelt
could be considered a steal.

Another neat feature lets
student check in to classes

with a click of a button. This
gives graphical data on the
student attendance levels,
which can help in planning
gradings and other events.
Students’ ranks and progress
can be logged and a complete
rankings breakdown of all
your students can be viewed
in an easy-to-read table.

The event management
features are also pleasantly
easy to use. The app is
essentially a class and
event planner that is easily
tweaked. All events and
changes to class times can
immediately be sent out
to students via a push-
notihcation function.

“Our app makes you a
more humble and critical
person and more self-
reflective of the decisions
you make for your school
and students,” says creator
Roman Zaytsev.

Considering the detail
of the data and the ease
of use of the app, school
owners in need of a tool to
help improve the way they
run their business should
seriously consider Nextbelt. ■

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FIGHT LIFE WITH CAIN BRUNTON

Taking the Thai Road

Victoria doesn’t have a reputation as a hotbed of Thai boxing culture; rather, it is traditionally
held as the stomping ground of kickboxing. Cain ‘Insane’ Brunton is working to change that,
one fight at a time. He talks about his recent WMC State Title win and the possibilities it has
opened up for him, including a spot on JWP’s Caged Muay Thai, a promotion as Queensland-
crazy as anyone could hope to get.

INTERVIEW BY JARROD BOYLE | PHOTOS BY WILLIAM LUU &TERRYVORG

C ain, how did you get
started in kickboxing?

My brother, AJ Brunton,
he was always into fighting.

He was into boxing, but then
found a passion for Thai boxing.
We would train in his little
shed on our nights off (when
we weren't training with Chris
Bradford) five years ago. I
would often finish school or
sometimes skip school just so I
could go hit the bag.

When I was about 10 years
old, AJ would get his mates

around and they would watch
him beat me up and knock
me down. They thought it was
funny 'cause I would always get
up and go harder.

Have you fought under
kickboxing rules in addition
to fighting under Thai?

No, I've always fought full
Thai rules.

Have you been cut before?

Yes, I've had two stitches
in my right cheek and also four
stitches in my head from [being
cut with] elbows.

Who are the fighters you
most admire?

Dane 'Daddy Kool' and
Soren [Mongkontongj. I've
met them a few times — great
people and awesome fighters.
Very technical — on
another level.

Have you fought in
Queensland?

I haven't fought in
Queensland yet but in
December, if all goes to plan.

I'll be fighting on 'John' Wayne
Parr's show, CMT

CMT sounds hardcore.
How do you intend on
preparing for that?

I love a good challenge and
I'll be training hard as always.
I'll have to adjust my guard a
little bit with the small gloves.

I can already tell the adrenaline
will be pumping!

What's Chris Bradford like
as a trainer?

Me and Chris have been
together before he even
thought about starting his own
gym. He's like a father figure

78

www.blitznnag.net

to me; he's a great trainer and
knows a lot about Thai boxing
and fighting in general.

Who do you do your
sparring with?

I've been doing a lot of
sparring with Steve Moxon of
late, who hits very hard. Also
Pat Richards, Chris Bradford,
my brother AJ and also Max
Thomason. Max is one to
watch out for in the future.

Tell us about Steve Moxon.
What's he like? How have you
found training with him?

Steve Moxon is very down-
to-earth; he's become a good
mate. He knows his stuff about
fighting. I often work with
him doing boxing, working on
angles. He's a very good asset
[to have] down atTopTier.

Had you played any sports
beforehand?

I've always played sport,
ranging from cricket, footy,
basketball, soccer, to karate. I'd
always been a pretty active kid,
but once I found Thai boxing,
that's all I did.

What do your parents
think about fighting?

My parents are extremely
supportive of my fighting —
they are always at my fights.

Who is your trainer?

Michael Archer is my pad
holder and good friend. "Always
behind the Insanity," he says.
Chris Bradford is also my
pad holder and supportive of
my training.

Have you trained or fought
in Thailand?

I recently just got back
from Thailand, training twice
a day at Sinbi MuayThai in
Rawai, Phuket. I had one fight;
winning byTKO via leg kicks in
the second round. I plan to go
back at the start of next year
and stay for around three to six
months, just for training and
fighting.

Where do you want
your kickboxing career to
take you?

I wanna be the best I can
be. The plan is to travel the
world and fight the best.

What are your memories
of your first fight?

I'd just turned 18; I was
fighting on Joe Demicoli's
show at the Westend Market
Hotel in 2011. The adrenaline
was pumping, everyone was
watching, all I wanted to do
was go out there and win. I
wore my brother's shorts from

www.blitznnag.net

•79

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“I like to think about it as more a lifestyle and
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keep walking in that door with a smile.”

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Thailand for good luck. I fought
Phivo Christodoulou for three
rounds. The fight was awarded
a draw. My shins got a bit of a
shock, actually. Then I found he
was probably even worse!

Toughest opponent
to date?

Michael Gelsi. We fought
twice and both times agreed
that when we fight, it hurts!

Do you have a "day job' to
supplement your income?

I'm a plumber. As my trainer
Archie likes to say, 'on the
tools', which I think makes a
difference, having [to do] a hard
labouring job all day.

Sixteen fights is a lot of
fights in two years. How
do you manage to fight so
often? How is your body
holding up?

I like to think about it as
more a lifestyle and enjoying
being fit. Having such a good
crew at TopTier Muay Thai

in Geelong makes it easy to
keep walking in that door with
a smile. I love the sport and
the culture. My body is fine;

I like to swim down at the
beach early in the morning
after training for recovery. I'm
trying to stay as active as I can,
fighting at a young age.

How was the experience
of fighting for a WMC
State Title?

I fought Tom Murray. He'd
been the top 55-57 kg fighter
for a long time in Victoria. I
remember seeing him fight
before I even started fighting.
When I got the call to fight
such a good fighter, I was more
than honoured to fight him. He
wanted to take my head off in
the first couple of rounds! With
the experience of my last few
fights, I held my composure
and kept kicking high. I got the
win after five hard rounds. It
was a very exhausting fight. ■

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FIGHT NEWS WITH JARRAH LOH

Cage Fights Coming to Vic?

While the Aussie MMA scene is buzzing with the news that the cage ban in Victoria could be
lifted, some of the country’s finest continue to prove the depth of our local talent overseas.

B eing a native Victorian, I
have written about this
many times in the past.
And it's sad that after all these
years I am still writing about it. I
am, of course, talking about the
Victorian cage ban.

However, for the first time
there is a genuine, and strong,
possibility that the ban may be
lifted very soon (despite every
mainstream media outlet in
the country trotting out the
most bloody fight footage they
can find in covering the issue,
as usual).

The Shadow Minister for
Sport and Recreation, Mr John
Eren, has publicly stated on
several occasions over the
past six months that if Labor
were to come into power at
the 2014 election, he would
immediately seek to lift the ban
on caged arenas.

With the Victorian elections
set to happen shortly after this
edition hits the stands, and
with Labor looking like the hot

favourite, it could be very good
news for fighters and fight fans,
no matter which side of the
political fence you usually sit.

Make no mistake; this
decision will have a huge impact
not only on MMA in Victoria, but
the entire country.

So, here's to a stadium title
fight Down Under in 2015!

Victorian heavyweight
kickboxer Andre Meunier was

given an amazing opportunity
recently, travelling to Japan for
a spot on the K-Legend card on
19 October alongside some of

the biggest names in the sport,
including Ernesto Hoost, Peter
Aerts and Sakmongkol.

Meunier's opponent was a
fighter well known to Japanese
kickboxing fans — German K-1
stalwart Chalid 'Die Faust' Arrab
— but Meunier made it clear
before the fight that he was
not intimidated.

"He's good; he's fought
everyone. I've watched him
twice, and that's enough. I
tend to fight my game, not
focus on them. I look at their
strengths a bit, but they might
have changed their style since

then. I'll go in my way, suss out
the first round, and if it doesn't
work, then I'll try and bash him."

And bash him the Aussie
did, walking away with a third-
round KO win and his biggest
scalp to date.

Adopted Aussie UFC
fighter Hector Lombard

withdrew from the UFC Fight
Night 55 card in Sydney, but
will take on MMA journeyman
Josh Burkman at UFC 182 in his
return fight on 3 January 2015.

UFC president Dana White
announced the fight via his

www.blitznnag.net • 83

FULL CONTACT

FULL CONTACT

FIGHT NEWS WITH JARRAH LOH

Twitter page, ruling Lombard
out of the Sydney card on 8
November. The Cuban-born
Aussie was disappointed to
miss out on an opportunity
to fight in front of his 'home
crowd', after proposed fights
against Tyron Woodley, Gegard
Mousasi and Matt Brown all
fell through.

His opponent, Burkman,
has accrued an impressive 9-2
record (including a win over
ex-UFC contender Jon Fitch)
since being cut by the UFC
six years ago off the back of
consecutive losses to Mike

Swick, Dustin Hazelett and
Pete Sell.

Eyeing a title shot, Lombard
may already be looking ahead
of the bout with Burkman,
calling out one of stars of
the division shortly after
the announcement.

"Rory [MacDonald], after
I'm done with Burkman —
fight me for the number
one contender [spot]," said
Lombard via Twitter.

MacDonald emphatically
defeated Tarec Saffiedine
recently with a brutal third-
round TKO.

Polish promotion
Konfrontacja SztukWalki (KSW)
held an event on 4 October
with a main event featuring
Aussie heavyweight legend
Peter Graham, who made a
successful debut when his
opponent, Polish kickboxer
Marcin Rozalski, was forced to
submit due to a knee injury.

Graham came out in the
second with a nice one-two
before both fighters exchanged
some heavy shots against
the cage. Graham caught
the leg of Rozalski and took
the fight to the ground, but
as he attempted to pass,
Rozalski injured his knee and
quickly tapped.

The end came 43 seconds
into round two and, with the
win at KSW 28, Graham moves
his pro MMA record to 10-7.

Aussie fighter Robert Lisita

walked away with a loss when
he was submitted by Russian
fighter Marat Gafurov in the
main event of One FC 21 on 17
October in Malaysia.

The fight was over within 70
seconds after Lisita tapped to a
rear-naked choke.

After an impressive win
streak against the likes of
Rodolfo Marques, Takeshi Inoue

andYusuke Kawanago, Lisita
has now lost two straight fights.

Isaac Tisdell was already
owner of the fastest finish in
Nitro history after he knocked
out Harley Taylor back at
Nitro MMA 8 in just nine
seconds. And according to
fightnewsaustralia. com\ he was
able to improve that with an
eight-second finish of Gokhan
Turkyilmaz at Nitro 12 to
capture the lightweight title.

Meanwhile, Ben
Nguyen reclaimed his Nitro
bantamweight title by split
decision, and Luke Morris
edged out a win over Chris
Morris also with a split decision.

The event took place at the
Logan Entertainment Centre in
Logan City, Queensland on 11
October, with the full results
as follows:

Main Card:

• Isaac Tisdell defeated Gokhan
Turkyilmaz via KO (spinning
back-fist), round 1 , 0:08

• Ben Nguyen defeated Reece
McLaren via decision (split)

• Luke Morris defeated Chris
Morris via decision (split)

• Alex MacDonald defeated
Brentin Mumford via decision
(unanimous)

• Ryan Heketa defeated
Joep Beerepoot via verbal
submission (heel-hook),
round 1, 3:53

Undercard:

• Megan Anderson defeated
Jodie Struzik via submission
(rear-naked choke), round 2,
0:30

• Luke Wright defeated Saeid
Fatahi via KO, round 1, 3:42

• Mick De-La-Warr defeated
Richard Tuala via TKO
(punches), round 2, 4:18

• Maui Tuigamala defeated
Shane Mitchell via
submission (rear-naked
choke), round 1, 3:52

• Edwin Arana defeated
Ashkan Mokhtarian via
submission (rear-naked
choke), round 2, 3:33

• Marcus Galloway defeated
Blake Russo via decision
(unanimous) ■

84 •[ www.blitznnag.net]

Well, if i say I'M GOOD,
probably you will say
I'M BOASTING. But if i say
i'm no good, you'll know
I'M LYING!

BRUCE LEE

THE EVOLUTION OF A MAflTIAL ARTIST

jif

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THE ARNOLD MARTIAL ARTS FESTIVAL WITH MARTIN HALL

Kicking for the Stars

Renowned taekwondo instructor Martin Hall, 8th Dan — coach of Australia’s only Olympic
gold medallist, Lauren Burns — and his wife and co-chief instructor at Hall’s Taekwondo,
Jeanette Hall, will bring the Korean martial art to the mats at the first ever Arnold Martial
Arts Festival in March 2015. Martin Hall gave Blitz an insight into what we can expect.

M artin, can you please
tell us about your
role at the Arnold
Martial Arts Festival 2015,
and who else will be on
your team organising the
taekwondo event?

Jeanette will work side by
side with me organising the
event and we will be supported
by our strong team of instructors
and staff from our five full-time
centres. Over the past 30 years,
Jeanette is well qualified in
business administration and
marketing and I am more hands-
on with the operational side. We
will also have qualified referees
through STA [Sports Taekwondo
Australia] maintaining
world-class court standards
and control.

For those readers
unfamiliar with your form
of combat sport and/or this
event, could you please give
a brief summary of the rules
and competition format?

Sparring competitors will
wear electronic chest guards
and score one point by punching
to the body, one point for a
scoring kick to the body, two
points for an effective turning
kick to the body, three points
for a kick to the headguard and
four points for a scoring turning
kick to the headguard. It is full
contact and knockouts do occur.
Competitors will fight two or
three rounds of one-to-two
minutes depending on age and
belt level.

Poomsae (patterns)
competitions will display the
very technical side of TKD.
Competitive poomsae has
advanced in appeal in recent
years and spectators will be
impressed by the standard.

Are these rules different
at all to the last Olympics,
or since the recent merger
of STA andTA [Taekwondo
Australia] — Australian
taekwondo's governing
bodies under the World
Takewondo Federation?

Competition rules are
World Taekwondo Federation
and both STA andTA use the
same system. Because of the
Olympics, taekwondo is highly
regulated and very attractive
to athletes and spectators.
Taekwondo is fast, dynamic and
highly skilled.

What can spectators
expect to see when they
check out your art at
the festival?

Intense battles between
competitors of all ages and
all abilities, and awesome
technical demonstrations.

What does being part
of the Arnold Martial Arts
Festival mean to you —
why have you chosen to
be involved?

It's a great opportunity to
unite both STA andTA in a
friendship competition for our
customers to see how we

Martin Hall on how to handle competitioi^ day:|
Self-talk has to be monitored, true and self^
assured. Prepare yourself well, ask questions so
ou can be well informed, and be well supported
on the day through your club and coachJ

can enjoy a well-run, fair and
on-time competition. Most
importantly, we admire Arnold
Schwarzenegger's drive and
determination to encourage
the wider community to get
involved in fitness and reap
the benefits of health and
wellbeing. He has expanded
the Arnold Classic to include
Australia and martial arts,
and we want taekwondo
to be well showcased on
this platform.

What advice would
you have for those who
are perhaps training in
taekwondo but unsure of
whether to compete or not?

This competition is
open to all levels, including
novice competitors, and is
a perfect starting place for
all to experience. It will be
a friendly competition with
lots of added benefits to
highlight your experience: you
will have access to all three
days of the festival, and enjoy
other sports and displays
through the competition arena
and the expo. There will be
many like-minded people
to meet. Gain confidence
through participation!

Your daughter, celebrity
personal trainer Tiff iny
Hall, is arguably Aussie
taekwondo's most famous
face these days, and she has
also been a top competitor
in poomsae for many years.
WillTiffiny be involved with
the Arnold?

At this timeTiffiny is busy
setting up her commitments
for 2015. She is keen to be
involved at an organisational
level and support us as much
as she can. ■

www.blitznnag.net

86

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IN FUTURE ISSUES OF BLITZ

The Institute of Judo

We investigate the Australian
Institute of Sport's ground-
breaking judo program and
why it brought the Japanese
team Down Under

Up, Up and. ..Elbow!

A look at the upward elbow
technique and its many
combat applications: strikes,
locks, breaks and blocks

Conversations with Kata

An insight into the meaning
of kata and how to get the
most practical use out of this
traditional karate training tool

Hit It!

Evaluate the many different
striking apparatus made for
martial arts training and their
uses in different styles

Stick-fighter for Life

The story of female full-
contact stick-fighting champion
Andrea Wheatley and her
journey in one of the toughest
combat sports around

Power Internal, Part Two

Chinese-born MasterYang Hai
offers more rich insights into
the workings of tai chi, bagua
and XingYi kung fu

Ready to Rumble?

Leading combat athletes,
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coaches give crucial tips for
tournament preparation

Swing This, Strike Hard

Lessons in training with
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stone) and its modern
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MARTIAL LAW WITH PHIL O'BRIEN

Your Punching Proteges

Last issue we looked at how new ‘one-punch laws’ affect students of self-
defence — but what of their implications for martial arts instructors?

A S martial art instructors,
the core of what we do
is teaching students how
to punch, kick, elbow, throw,
etc. So where does our duty of
care lie?

Take, for example, a student
who goes on a night out with
friends, has a few drinks as he/
she is not driving and gets to
a point where, if tested, they
would have a blood alcohol
level of around 0.15 ('high'
range, if driving). This reading
could result from as few as
six standard drinks for a 70-kg
person — the results vary for
males and females, and are
also dependent upon how
quickly you drink and your body
weight. So, your student gets
into an altercation and defends
themselves using a technique
that you taught them. As a
result, the other person is
seriously injured or dies.

Your student can, of course,
claim self-defence. It should
be noted that so far only one
person has been charged under
the new 'one punch' laws in
NSW. He is currently facing a

mandatory minimum sentence
of eight years up to a maximum
of 25 years in prison. This man
is currently being held without
bail and will likely remain in
custody until the trial, meaning
he could spend anywhere
between six months to a year in
prison before he has the chance
to claim self-defence in court.

As martial art instructors, can
we be held responsible for the
actions of our students?

That question is yet to be
answered, but let's consider
what might happen if our
student claims — in court, in
the media or to the police —
any of the following:

I The reason they used the
technique that caused the
damage was because their
instructor/s told them to do so
if attacked.

Their instructor/s only taught
a 'crash, bash and destroy'
response if attacked, and that
was all they knew how to do.

3 Their instructor never

mentioned 'reasonable force'
or the legal consequences of
using self-defence techniques.

4 Their instructor never
mentioned stepping away
and avoiding the confrontation.

Or, what if our student
decides to sue us for
negligence on the grounds
mentioned above, because they
are facing the prospect of a
long prison term and the huge
cost of a criminal trial?

What if the injured person's
family sues us because the
person who injured or killed
their family member may
not have been able to do
so without our training and
guidance, or, alternatively,
because we advocated a 'bash
and destroy' method of self-
defence?

These are only hypothetical
questions, but if a martial art
student is charged with such
an offence, there will likely be
lawyers willing to test these
questions in court.

It is also worth considering
if your martial art instructor's
insurance would cover your
legal fees to defend this sort of
lawsuit. I doubt it. So, unless
you as an instructor want to run
the risk of being sued for a vast
sum of money, I recommend
the following:

1 Educate your students about
self-defence and the law,
the use of reasonable force and
what to do and say to police if
they are unfortunate enough to
get into this situation. (If you
don't have that knowledge or
expertise, contact me for help.)

2 Make public statements
that detail your school or

clubs' position on self-defence
and the law, and the use of
reasonable force. The best way
to do this is on your website,
social media or blog.

3 Be careful what you post
online to social media, such
as Facebook and YouTube, as
this material can be used in
evidence. Two or three violent
YouTube clips could be far more
persuasive than your denials.

4 Ensure your social media
presence is balanced, as
if this sort of incident occurs,
the media will use your online
material and to muckrake
and sensationalise if it allows
them to.

Promote the positive
aspects of your school and
style so you can rightfully claim
that self-defence is part of
what you do and that you don't
promote the brutal destruction
of anyone who has an issue
with you (you don't, do you?).

Unfortunately, we live in an
age where many people look to
blame someone else for their
misfortunes or bad judgment,
and if you look at the number
of companies being sued in
regard to workplace issues, it's
no stretch to imagine a martial
art instructor being sued.

Disclaimer: This is generai
information oniy; it does
not repiace advice from a
quaiified soiicitor. Shouid you
require iegai advice, seek it
from a suitabiy quaiified and
experienced iegai practitioner in
your state or territory m

Phii O'Brien teaches reaiity-based seif-defence in Western Sydney
and has been studying the physicai and psychoiogicai eiements
of seif-defence for 25 years. A former NSW poiice officer, O'Brien
is now a soii citor with Sydney firm Teddinaton Legai. He can be

contacted vie www.teddingtonlegal.com.au

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MARTIAL MINDS

GET TACTICAL WITH GRAHAM KUERSCHNER

Changing Gears

Looking at even a small range of people’s personal experiences with violence shows
that understanding context is everything, and a broad skill base is required to adapt.

t was a strange week. It
started with a call from a
middle-aged woman who
seemed hesitant and clearly
knew little about our industry
and the systems that comprise
it. I was struggling to form a
picture of what I was working
with when she disclosed that
her next-door neighbour has
made a serious threat against
her. Then it made sense: she
is not into 'the physical thing'
but was clearly worried and
has no idea how to deal with
the potential violence that
resides next door. I had to
drop into counsellor mode —
despite never having qualified
as one — and talk her through
her concerns.

Later, I had a mother
worried about her son being
bullied at school, followed by a

father who was worried about
his daughter, but she was only
14 and 'a bit young'. I talked
them through their options.
Later, a complete switch with
a call confirming I would be
attending a charity fundraiser
along with other groups of
traditional martial artists to
teach some 'techniques' from
a modern defensive tactics
system. I began to think: what
am I going to teach these guys
that will make sense and be of
some value?

That was followed a day
later by one of my students
in the security industry giving
me his after-contact briefing on
his experience. He had to deal
with a guy so drunk he had
trouble standing. As he was
talking to him, he noticed two
individuals off to his right who

seemed to be concentrating on
the proceedings. His gut told
him they were connected with
the drunk guy and if this went
physical it would be a three-on-
one, not a one-on-one. He was
part of a group that had arrived
in a bus, which was travelling
from bar to bar on a 'pub crawl'.

He went to a plan B and
told the guy that the bus
operators had a strict policy of
not allowing anyone on the bus
if they were drunk. Of course,
he knew that was rubbish. He
suggested that the inebriated
fellow go outside to get some
air and sober up, gently guided
him out while keeping the
drunk between him and his
friends so as to keep them all
in line of sight. This was stuff
we had practised in the gym:
tactical positioning 101.

My student could tell the
guy smoked and so suggested
he might also want to have a
quick smoke, as he couldn't
smoke on the bus. As he got
near the door, he faked a smile
for the benefit of his friends to
make it seem all was okay. They
stayed put. It all worked.

My student wanted me to
offer a critique of his handiwork
and whether it followed our
approach, particularly extrication
from a situation using tactical
and verbal skills only, which we
practise. Switch gears again.

Then yesterday, one of
my students, who is a police
detective, ran me through
the broad detail of a drug raid
in which he, an offender and
several other officers ended up
in a scrum that went to ground
with him on the bottom. No

mats — it was rough concrete.
He ran me through the event
and indicated he wanted more
of our brand of groundfighting
and what else there was to
go through. Again, switch to a
completely different scenario,
needs and context.

That afternoon I took a
call from an army sergeant,
who is ex-Special Forces, who
wants me to provide training
to several platoons under his
charge. We talked at length
about my experience in the
military and training other
military groups, and what
would suit them from knife
work, firearm retention, control
and restraint or combatives,
trying to figure out on the
fly what his units need to
complement the official army
training program.

By then, I think I'd just
about run out of gears to
switch into. From middle-aged
women, concerned parents
and traditional martial artists to
an experienced security guy,
a drug squad officer and army
platoons. How broad does
your skill base have to be and
how much depth do you need
in each skill set in this self-
defence game? It was mentally
exhausting and it seemed a
much easier proposition to just
be teaching people how to fight
in the ring, I thought. Why am I
doing this?

Because there is a crying
need. Because there are people
out there who want help, who
are scared, who want to feel
better about themselves and
a bit safer in this world. That's
why. Get over it, princess! ■

Graham Kuerschner is a 48-year veteran of the martial arts and can
be contacted through his vveds/fe [wvvw.sdtactics.com.aij

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MARTIAL MINDS

CLOSE QUARTERS withpaulcale

Raise Your Weapon

When it comes to self-defence, you want to be the weapon and have the tool,
not the other way around...

Y OU have probably heard the
saying 'don't bring a knife
to a gun fight'; however,
the reality of a gun fight at close
quarters is a little more complex
than that — you're actually
better off bringing both.

Until recent years, Army
training in close-quarters battle
(room-to-room close shooting)
and close-quarters fighting
(combatives or unarmed
combat) were seen to be two
very different things and the
attitudes of instructors from
both camps was at times poles
apart. I would often hear fellow
firearms instructors say that
unarmed combat was a waste
of precious training time, that
you just need to shoot the
enemy first. My comrades
teaching unarmed combat
would retort with 'hands don't
have stoppages' (referring
to incidents when a firearm
malfunctions or runs out of
ammunition). This banter went
on for decades, with firearms
training usually coming out on
top (as it should). It was only
as Australia entered into its
longest war in history that the
two camps began to understand
how much they actually needed
each other.

With my background as an
instructor in both fields and
with several commanding
officers seeing the need to
link these skills, the Australian
commandos began to move
down the integrated combat
path. The dire need for
integrated combat capability
became apparent through my
personal experience and, more
importantly, the immense
experience of my fellow
commandos — during the 'war
on terror', the 2nd Commando

Regiment has been involved
in the most fighting, had the
most men killed and wounded
in action, and has been the
most decorated unit in the
Australian Army.

Of course, when we're in a
gun fight, we just want to shoot
the enemy; however, the enemy
has his own thoughts on the
matter and would rather not
be shot while he tries to shoot
you. And if a weapon is going
to malfunction, it will tend to do
so at the worst possible time,
when you pull the trigger. So,
by integrating close shooting
skills (using both our primary
and secondary weapons)
with close fighting skills using
auxiliary weapons like the knife
or improvised weapons such
as a gun magazine or tactical
helmet, we are able to produce
a mindset in commandos that
it is in fact them who are the
weapons, and that everything
they use is just a tool that will
enhance their already honed
warrior skills.

How does this thinking
compare to that of the average
martial artist, who may think
weapons are only necessary

for those whose work involves
dealing with an armed enemy
or potentially armed criminals?
Well, personally I think that
many martial arts schools use
the term 'self-defence' merely
as a throwaway line for their
marketing brochures. This is
particularly true of those that
don't address weapons — not
of the ancient kind, but the kind
easily available today — both
in defending against them and
applying those that are legal
(i.e. improvised). The fact is,
the very nature of violence
tends to be as it is because
the people involved are armed
or use improvised weapons
found at the scene. Two guys
having a fight in a pub can be
seen as violent, depending on
the perception of the observer;
but what if one of them has
an accomplice who steps in to
glass the other person and then
joins in with his mate kicking

their fallen adversary in the
head while he is unconscious?
To any observer, this would be
seen as violent in the extreme.

In Australia, you have the
right to self-defence, you just
don't have the right to seriously
prepare yourself for dealing with
violence — because violence
very often means weapons.
Practising a bunch of techniques
with plastic guns is not a
bad idea, but it's limited in its
effectiveness unless the actual
working gun is used. If you're
not exposed to live shooting
with a firearm, then you won't
understand the stress and
weaknesses of that weapon,
nor all the real opportunities in
dealing with somebody who
has that weapon. If you want to
defend yourself against violence,
you must expose yourself to
the weapons that can be found
within your environment and
you must also be realistic and
adapt your training to suit the
environment you're in or are
planning to enter.

The worst thing you can
do is to believe that your tree
house will stand against the
coming tornado; if you're dealing
with the threat of tornados, start
working on a bomb shelter off
to the side of your tree.

So, what's that in your
pocket (bag, car, desk
drawer...)? Could it be a tool
for dealing with violence? If so,
train with it and get familiar with
it, because these days that's
what you need, m

Sgt (retired) Paul Cale has fought in Afghanistan and until mid-
2013 managed the Integrated Combat Centre at 2nd Commando
Regiment where Cale was in charge of developing CQC for
Australian Special Forces. He now leads the combat sports
program at the Aus tralian Institute of Sport and runs Cale

Integrated Combat 'www.facebook.com/caleintegratedcombat

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MARTIAL MINDS

THE LAST WORD with john b will

^^1 A Fork in the Road

J ^ J Some pioneers of Brazilian jiu-jitsu lament the growth of sport BJJ and see it as a potential

^ agent of destruction to the art’s tested self-defence methods. Will it be so?

T here is an idea rolling
around the BJJ landscape
that we have reached a
fork in the road; a landmark that
we may look back upon from
the future as a 'tipping point'
of sorts.

The idea is that, as with all
forks in the road, we need to
choose, each according to their
own needs, our way forward.
One pathway leads to the
further development of the art
that is optimal for a sporting
application; the other focuses
on self-defence applications
and, dare I say it, life skills.

Let's consider the first
pathway. The sporting/
competitive face of BJJ is
an extremely important and
very rewarding one. On that
particular landscape, BJJ
athletes pit themselves and
their increasingly more specific
'games' against one another for

medals, money and prestige.

As with all sporting events,
the evolution of the art (in that
environment) is driven by those
technical developments that
give rise to victory. If a strategy
or technique (tactic) affords
a point (or even advantage-
based) victory, then it survives
and prospers; counters are
then developed; counters to
counters, and so it goes. This is
the birthing place for technical
development; it's where new
ideas germinate and new
'branches' of the art sprout
and develop.

Well, to be more accurate,
the competitive landscape
is where new technical
developments are pressure-
tested; however — and this is
the point of departure for those
who choose the alternate path
— they are pressure-tested
only for effectiveness in that

Perhaps some people do feel the need to make
a choice; after all, for most of us there is limited
time we can allocate to training.

When it comes to martial

particular environment: the
sporting arena. A 'deep half-
guard' game or a 'worm guard'
game may not be the best
choice for 'real-world' conflict
— in fact, far from it! Such
techniques and game strategies
may frustrate or defeat a fellow
competitor; but that is where
their effectiveness ends. For
self-defence applications, they
are largely irrelevant or, more to
the point, redundant.

Please don't misinterpret
my meaning. Most high-level
BJJ competitors, in a one-on-
one, real-life, grappling-based
confrontation, will emerge
victorious. But they will not do
so by employing these highly
specific and intricately evolved
gaming strategies — they will
more than likely use simple
techniques and solid basics.

So, one way to look at the
competition-biased BJJ game
is that it has been developed
to deal with ever more evolved
and experienced BJJ players. In
other words, you are learning
to play chess in a way that
will allow you to compete
with high-level chess players.
You don't need to know such
strategies to deal with people
who have never played the
game (but you had better also
be aware that they won't play
by rules, either).

The other pathway offers
an art that unfolds in a very
different way. Many of the
techniques and strategies are
the same but the focus is just
very different. That focus is
placed on solid fundamentals;
a deeper understanding of

those aspects of BJJ that are
of more use for self-defence
applications that are likely to
arise in the real world. While
there are a seemingly endless
variety of techniques and
strategies on offer, the focus
is about 'drilling down' and
increasing understanding of
those more subtle — even
invisible, you could say —
principles and strategies that
make those techniques work.
And in this drilling down, we
learn. Not only more about
the technique, but more about
ourselves. We can also learn
to make connections between
the principles at play on the
mat and those by which we can
operate and run our very lives.

Perhaps some people do
feel the need to make a choice;
after all, for most of us there
is limited time we can allocate
to training. By taking one path,
we can move further along it
and do better than if we spend
equal time on both.

I believe, though, that
we can, with a reasonable
approach, extract value from
both pathways. Rather than
seeing them as two paths
that head away from each
other in opposite directions,
like aT-intersection, we can
view them like the double
helix spirals, as often used to
illustrate a DNA strand. The
two pathways twist around
each other and connect at
many, many different points. By
walking the twisting pathway,
we might extract the benefits
of each approach. And there is
certainly a lot on offer. ■

John B Will is head of BJJ Australia and teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu,
shootfighting and sel f-defence solutions around the world Check

out his regular blog at www.bjj-australia.blogspot.com.au

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